Hands off My Girlfriend!
by Theriechenbachevent
Summary: Ren suddenly has competition from the last person he'd expected. But all's fair in love & war...right? Poor Kyoko, being monkey in the middle is never fun. Read & Review PLEASSSSEEE! NEW CHAPTER IS UP, AUTHORS NOTE CHAPTER REMOVED.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: First, I want you guys to know that im sorry im playing with other fictions when I have another fanfic waiting for me but the thing is, this plot bunny wont stop wreaking havoc in my mind! So bear with me kay? Okay so this fic has some elements from Faster than a Kiss but isn't really a companion fic since Kyoko and Ren aren't together. Anywaaaays, I've forgotten Yashiro's age again. Some one enlighten me? Well read and enjoy Skip Beat! Fans! I hope I haven't gone too OOC. Oh well. Read & Review.**

**Prologue: Hurricane**

~Lory's Office LME~

"THAT. IS. IT!" Lory seethed. Sitting in his lavish office on the top floor of the building, Lory stared at the giant monitor in front of him with something close to agony. He watched as Ren missed yet another opportunity to get closer to Kyoko, the woman he had unwittingly fallen in love with. Really, it was ridiculous, a man his age and with his history with women should logically pounce. But Ren? _Nooooo._ He to be a "gentleman" and stay at a "proper" distance from the girl. Lory was beside himself with exasperation.

_This foolish godson of mine is far more trouble than he's worth! _

Grumbling,Lory grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl Sebastian was holding next to him and flung it at the screen in irritation.

"Fool!" Lory blinked as his frustrated cry was echoed on screen by Yashiro, who was practically crying tears of blood.

"I work so hard to create these opportunities for you and you! You just let them go! That one was _perfect!_ You could have grabbed it so easily! Why did you let such a chance go? Why? Why? _WHYYYYYYYYYY?" _Yashiro now had Ren by the collar of his shirt and was shaking him vigorously.

"Yes! Good job Yashiro!" Lory clapped in glee. "Beat some sense into the fool!" Although Ren remained blank faced, with his fingers in his ears; clearly waiting for his manager's temporary bout of insanity to subside. Lory drummed his fingers on his desk.

_If only there was some way to goad into making a move. If only, if only, if on-_

The president suddenly sat up straight, taking in Yashiro's form on the monitor. He grinned and rolled his chair around, to face his computer, pulling Kuu up on video chat.

"Yo Boss. What's up?"

Lory waved the greeting aside impatiently. His grin grew wider,

"Listen, I have a plan I want to run by you quickly." For the next hour, he reiterated his plan to Kuu, with him throwing in the occasional revision and by the end, they had a working scheme. Kuu himself was so excited he was practically bouncing off the walls.

"That is BRILLIANT! Kuon will never see it coming! Boss, you're a genius."

Lory sat back in his chair, pleased with his plan.

"Yes. Yes I am. But more importantly, I AM A FIGHTER FOR LOVE!" Kuu sweat dropped as Lory assumed his love-love fighter pose.

"Right. Uh, Julie is calling me. She made dinner." Lory winced as he sat back down.

"I hope you have those anti-acids in your pocket."

"Never leave without them."

"Good luck."

Clicking off, Lory sighed in satisfaction. He loved when inspiration struck, Never mind that his inspirations were sometimes dangerous, but nonetheless, they were inspiration. He clicked a button on his desk and spoke into his intercom.

"Sayuki, bring those job offers addressed to Imai Kaien to my office immediately. "

"Right away sir."

"Oh and make sure Jelly is on standby within the next hour."

"Of course sir."

_Hang on tight Ren,_ the president thought with a smirk as he swung around to continue watching Ren and Yashiro converse, now on an elevator 30 floors below. _Hurricane Kaien is coming your way._

**a/n: well? How was it? Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter. Onwards to the second chapter!**

**Also, I don't own Skip Beat!**

**Chapter 1: It's Good To Be Back**

"Reeeeeeen! I can't believe you!" Yashiro groaned in the car. They were on their way back to LME from a photo-shoot that had taken place in downtown Tokyo. The stampede that had occurred following his appearance on set had nearly threatened the safety of every crew member. People had literally been forced to climb things to escape the chaos. Ren himself was every bit the calm and composed man as he had been ushered into his car and told to return to LME until the situation was under control. The entire time, much to Ren's chagrin, Yashiro had not stopped bemoaning the fact that he had refused an offer from Kyoko to come over and cook him dinner. He sighed.

"Yashiro, why does this bother you so much?" Ren asked wearily, pulling into the underground parking lot of LME. He had refused because he was afraid of what he might do to her in the process of a night alone.

"Because it's so _painfully_ obvious that you're in love with Kyoko – chan and I want you to grab her while she's still available!" Yashiro retorted. He was sure that pretty soon he would have to start to grovel in order for Ren to listen to him.

"Mogami-san isn't a thing to be grabbed Yashiro. Besides, she's LME's number 1 Love Me girl, she's not going anywhere anytime soon." Ren took some solace in the fact that he could take his time in slowly chipping away at the wall that the girl had constructed around her heart. It was an almost impenetrable wall, but there had to be a crack somewhere. And Ren was determined to find that crack. He knew he didn't have much competition for her heart other than Fuwa, and he wasn't really considering his position in the woman's heart. He was more of a nuisance more than anything else. On the whole, he wasn't too worried.

"But it could happen!" Yashiro persisted. "And it could be _anyone_!`` He stressed the word as they entered the empty elevator. "I know you don't consider the Fuwa brat a threat, but there _are _other men in the world who are! Remember Kijima?" Ren stiffened at the name of the womanizing actor. "See what I mean? I –" He stopped as they stepped out of the elevator onto the main lobby, Yashiro fishing in his pocket for his buzzing phone.

"Hang on, it's probably Shingai-san confirming next week's appointment.." He snapped his gloves on and flipped the phone on. "Hello – President?" Ren watched as his manager's face scrunched up in confusion. "Me?" He pointed to himself. "Are you sure? Uh, alright then. Yes, of course. See you." Yashiro clicked off and faced Ren.

"What was that about?"

"I have no idea. The president wants to see me. Says you can attend your next meeting alone." Ren raised an eyebrow at that. Yashiro shrugged.

"It's the president. What're you gonna do?"

Ren nodded.

"What indeed. Well see you in a bit then."

With that, the two men split up, heading in opposite directions. Yashiro rode up the elevator and let out a small shriek of shock as the elevator doors closed behind him. Inside stood the president's right hand man, Sebastian, dressed as police officer. The elevator itself looked like a crime scene with caution tape all over it and Polaroid shots of what Yashiro dearly hoped weren't real corpses. The next 5 minutes were the most awkward of Yashiro's life. Sebastian wasn't in the habit of making small talk and the cheerful elevator music was in dreadful juxtaposition to the elevators' grisly contents. It was with a sigh of relief that Yashiro finally got off, only for his heart to begin hammering in his chest as he caught sight of the president.

The whole office was decorated as a crime scene, complete with corpses which on closer inspection were dummies. There were crime scene photos scattered on the floor as well as minutes from court trials. The president himself was dressed as a police chief and was sitting with a largely imposing aura at his desk. Had he been a real chief of police, Yashiro reckoned that Tokyo would be a lot safer than it currently was.

"Ah Yashiro!" The president beamed, effectively breaking the sinister spell. "Good to see you my boy! Come, sit down." He kicked a rolling office chair over to Yashiro who gingerly sat down, yelping as Sebastian kicked the chair back to the President, sending the chair flying with Yashiro in it, holding on for dear life. The president stopped the chair with his foot nonchalantly.

_This man is not normal!_ Yashiro wailed internally.

"Good afternoon President-san." Yashiro returned the greeting weakly, still recovering from his trip. He would never get used to his eccentricities.

"Alright, let's get down to business Imai Kaien-san." Yashiro froze, looking at the blatant amusement on the president's face.

"Y-you know?" He stammered as Lory grinned.

"Not much gets by me Yashiro. You didn't think I would do a background check when I hired you? I called the president of your last agency. He was only too happy to tell me everything." Yashiro cried tears silently at the President's carefree smile. _I bet you scared him silly,_ he thought dryly. "I've known since the beginning."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Why would I? It was your choice. If you wanted to keep it a secret, I saw no reason to out you. There was a reason I put you as Ren's manager. You think I would let a rookie manager manage _Ren's_ career that easily? No way. I did it because you'd been on the other side of the camera longer than he had. You made an excellent mentor for him, even if neither of you saw it."

Yashiro realized once again that just because the man was eccentric, no one should make the mistake of underestimating him. It was way too dangerous.

"May I ask what I've been called here for President-san?" Yashiro asked politely. He hoped it was something trivial, but his gut told him otherwise.

"I've got some job offers for you. As an actor I mean." Yashiro stiffened.

"I thought I had made it clear that I was in retirement?" He said carefully.

"Oh I know. But I find, one can agree to come out of retirement given the right….incentives." Lory looked at him with a look that Yashiro could only describe as evil. He didn't really want to know what was going on, but he had almost unconsciously gone into business mode at the mention of incentives.

"Incentive? What incentive?"

Pleased that he had Yashiro's full attention, the president continued.

"A chance to _make_ Ren make a move on Kyoko-chan." Yashiro sat back in his chair.

"Forgive me President-san. But I'm not so obsessed that I would come out of my own imposed retirement to make them fall in love. In any case, say I hypothetically agree to come out of retirement, how would me acting make Ren ask Kyoko-chan out?"

"Simple, one of the directors, Asami-san from Akitoki, wants to cast you in a drama that stars you and Kyoko-chan as forbidden lovers." Yashiro's eyes widened. _Was the president trying to kill him?_

"Are you serious? Me? With Kyoko-chan as my leading lady? Do you want me dead or something? I'll be gutted like a fish!" Yashiro seemed petrified with terror. Lory rolled his eyes.

"Oh calm down. Are you a man or not? Besides, the whole point is to make Ren jealous that you get to spend so much time with her."

Yashiro flinched, remembering the last time he'd come across a jealous Ren. Not fun. He'd honestly face a truck on the highway on a pogo stick.

"Okay, I see your point. But why me? Couldn't you accomplish the same thing with _any _actor? It doesn't have to be me." Lory laughed and clicked a button, enabling a giant monitor to appear in front of the two.

"On the contrary Yashiro, it must be you. Do you remember this?" He clicked another button and Yashiro recognized the clip playing on the screen as the conversation he and Ren had had not even 20 minutes ago.

"_it's so painfully obvious that you're in love with Kyoko – chan and I want you to grab her while she's still available!"_

"_Mogami-san isn't a thing to be grabbed Yashiro. Besides, she's LME's number 1 Love Me girl, she's not going anywhere anytime soon." _

"_But it could happen! And it could be __**anyone!"**_

Lory paused the scene as Yashiro cursed his big mouth. It was because of things like this that he always, always, _always_ got into trouble. Even in school it had been like this.

"You see," the president continued conversationally. "I want Ren to realize that he can't wait anymore. And you will help me. You will help Ren to realize that there are threats everywhere. Even you." Yashiro sighed. Any way he looked at it, it seemed like a suicide mission.

"And if I refuse?" Yashiro asked idly, staring blandly back at the president.

"You know, just the other day, Maria was telling me how effective her voodoo curses are. Apparently her last nanny still hasn't been released from the insane asylum." Lory said cheerfully as Yashiro paled. _It didn't look like he had a choice. It was either death by Ren or death by Maria, and frankly I'm more scared of the kid._

"Do we have a deal?" The president slid an acting contract towards Yashiro who sighed.

"Deal." He signed the document dejectedly, seeing his life flash before his eyes. It had been fun he guessed.

"Now then," the President said, looking Yashiro up and down. "I think some aesthetic work needs to be done to return you to your former appearance, no?" He gestured and two broad suit clad men stepped forward and uh...forcefully led Yashiro away.

"Jelly Woods is waiting to give you your make over. She will return you to your former look with some adjustments to include your age. Oh and Yashiro?"

"Yes President?" said the dejected manager.

"I lied. Maria's never had a nanny."

"PRESIDENT-SAN!"

Lory laughed as Yashiro was dragged away.

~1 hour later~

"Kyaaaaa~!" Jelly squealed as she finished styling and setting Yashiro's hair, setting it in a shaggier style that he would have worn had he been in the acting business. Oh wait. He was in the acting business.

_That damn president._

"I think you may even be cuter than Ren! Oh gosh don't tell him I said that." Yashiro grinned weakly.

"I hope it stays that way once Ren's finished with me." He muttered darkly, shuddering as he thought of possible outcomes of this scheme of the presidents. He looked at his hair in the mirror.

"Um, Jelly-san, I can't look like this all the time. What am I-" He stopped as Jelly held out a light brown wig to him.

"I thought you might need it so I styled in your normal hairstyle. You just need to secure it to your head and comb it as you would normally to set it. But tell me," she said, turning Yashiro in his chair, so he could see his reflection. "How does it feel to be Imai Kaien again?" Yashiro stared at himself in the mirror. His glasses were gone and his hair was back to his original black. He hadn't needed glasses to begin with, they were just a means of disguise. It had been almost 4 years since he'd seen his hair this color. It was nostalgic he had to admit as he ruffled his fingers through his shaggy hair and grinned.

_It's good to be back!_

A/N: Read & Review please!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi guys. I'm back! For anyone wondering, guess what? The thief returned the purse! The weird(er) part? He (Or she) stole my book card, foundation, $140.00 and my story notebook. Like what? I'm still a little shocked. I'm glad they returned it though. The purse was a $200.00 gift from my father and I quite liked it. Well anyway, I've finally started to rewrite the story. Here's the first part of the rewritten rest of the storyy. Enjoy! Do review to tell me my thoughts. Please no flames. I am aware that this quite farfetched. But that's why I like it. (: Thank you by the way to all those who showed concern about my previous situation.

**Chapter 3: Tell Me What?**

_Kanzawa Yuiko huh?_ Kyoko flipped through her script as she perused the contents. From what she could tell, the story seemed to be a modernization of William Shakespeare's classic _Romeo & Juliet_. She was to play Karazawa Yuiko, a young woman at the center of a power struggle between two business conglomerates. She half groaned when she went back to the major theme of the drama.

_Romance._

While Kyoko knew, that as an actress, she had to be able to do all forms of roles, she still felt an immense amount of hostility for the emotion. Kyoko just hoped she would be able to disguise the feeling on camera. She wouldn't have taken the role in the first place had it not been for the fact that president had forced her into it, and the fact that some huge actor (whose name was currently under wraps) was going to be her co-star. The President had thrown the gauntlet down in front of her. _Daring_ her to back down from the task he had given her. And, as competitive as she was, Kyoko had fumingly accepted the challenge with no second thought, coming back to reality only as the president laughed and sat back down, laughing at her folly. Unfortunately for Kyoko, she had made it part of her policy to never go back on her word.

So here she was.

Stuck.

As Juliet.

Opposite a man who she had issued a challenge against, despite not even knowing his identity. She sighed. Kyoko always had a knack for getting herself into trouble. She rounded the corner in a TBM studios hallway and walked towards _Meeting Room 4(B)._ Today was the first cast meeting between all cast members and her chance to meet her co-actor/opponent. Squaring her shoulders, Kyoko took a deep breath, let it out and opened the door.

Inside, the first thing to strike her, was the slightly dazed gazes of every female in the room, versus the _very_ disgruntled appearances of men. She looked around for the director, finding him at the back of the room talking to a man whose back was to her. He was tall, had black hair. His body build was lean and yet very solid. She could only guess from the amount of attention the director paid to him, that this was very likely the lead male actor.

"Ah! Kyoko-chan! Hurry over here! I'd like you to meet your costar. Imai Kaien." At this point, the man, Imai-san, turned around to see her and Kyoko noted with apprehension that his eyes widened ever so slightly. _What? What was wrong? Had she worn something inappropriate for a business meeting?_ His eyes then turned warm and he extended his hand to her.

"Pleasure to meet you Kyoko-san. I look forward to working with you." He did a half - bow as he gently let of her hand. Kyoko's eyes widened as he spoke.

"Ya-"

"Well, let's not keep everyone waiting, shall we?" Kaien brushed past her suddenly, towards the group table. Kyoko took in his build, height, and now his voice...she was almost positive it was...but it couldn't be...right? She dismissed it and followed him to the table, both of them seating themselves on either side of where the director would sit as instructed.. By now, it seemed the women had shaken themselves out of their stupor. The director - a Director Ayazawa-san - seated himself down and cleared his throat.

"Alright. Now that we have all gathered. I think the best way to get to know each other is by introducing our selves and identifying our characters. I believe in teamwork, and I want you to know, that I expect a team mentality when you are on the set. This is a team project and the better we work together, the better our end result will be. Let's start with the supporting roles shall we?"

A middle aged, in his mid-forties cleared his throat.

"I am Yamamoto Kusaka, I play Nakamura Fumihiro, Nakamura Tetsuya's father, leader of Daijou Corporations." He had salt & pepper black hair, and yet looked quite young for his age. Kyoko knew him to play various father figures in notable movies, such as the Japanese version of the Knights of the Round Table series or the father in Wallflower. His eyes had a kind look to them that Kyoko found she quite liked. Build-wise, the man appeared to work out to keep himself in shape. Next to him sat a woman in her 30s that Kyoko recognized as a prominent actor of mother figures in many TV serials. She looked almost as strict as Iizuka-san but seemed to be able to do her roles well.

"My name is Suzuki Ayako. I play Nakahara Junko, Fumihiro's wife and Tetsuya's mother."

They continued going around the table, introducing Inoue Tashiro and Sato Kaya as Kanzawa Hiro and Misao, the leaders of the fictional Hanamatsuri Group. The parents of Kyoko's character. Both looked like nice enough people. easily approachable. they explained that they were both method actors, like herself and that if they became overly parental of Kyoko during shoots in between takes, she wasn't to mind it. Kyoko half smiled at the thought. Then she remembered what her "fathers" personality was and immediately understood the reason for their words of caution. They wanted her to stay out of his way.

Next they moved to a young woman, a Suzuki Chizu. She had to be prodded to stop her staring at Imai-san. Suzuki-san was to play Tetsuya's fiance in the film. It seemed they were switching the roles of the play in the film making the final showdown take place between the two young women fighting for Tetsuya's affections. Kyoko was still coming to terms with that role. It reminded her too much of her stint as an actress with Sho and her tussle with Mimori. The director, startled at the sudden hostile vibes coming from his actress, timidly asked if she wanted to introduce herself. Almost instantly, the hostility was gone and replaced with a bright smile from the orange haired woman.

" Hello everyone, My name is Kyoko. I will play Kanzawa Yuiko, the uh "Juliet" in this film. Tetsuya's," Kyoko gulped suddenly as the weight of the role came down on her. "..lover and wife." The director smiled, mistaking her hesitation for shyness.

"Kyoko-chan, if you will, will you explain your take on the character? Juliet and Tetsuya are focal points of the project and the supporting characters need to understand the main characters in order to react to them appropriately. So...?" He gestured at her and this brought Kyoko out of her fear. She would deal with the ramifications of the role later. RIght now, she was in her element, developing the role.

"Certainly." She caught Imai-sans even gaze and felt herself flush as she collected herself again. "Yuiko is the typical daughter of many affluent families at first glance. But a further look into her personality will show you that this is only a ruse for the well being of her family's reputation. While she isn't brutish or outspoken in any sense of the word, Yuiko takes her meek personality as a cover in order to throw her opponents off guard. And when I say "opponent", I mean those who wish to subdue her in a meeting in order to extract their interests from her. She makes it clear that she is not someone they can manipulate and shows an astute mind in the affairs of her fathers business, taking note and being well aware of the goings on around her. She scoffs at love and knows that the man she marries will likely not love her but instead looks for a man with a fair sense of business and quick on his feet. Meeting Tetsuya however, throws her off kilter as she begins her relationship with him as one of mutual distate. She soon sees past his arrogant and irritating façade and realizes that he is a compassionate man with a keen sense of business and intuition. His façade is in use for the same reason as hers and they soon realize that they have more in common than they thought and they fall in love." As she explained her character to her cast mates, she could see a small approving smile from her co-star that made her feel a little funny inside but cast the thought aside, focusing on her analysis on Yuiko.

"I believe Yuiko is kind and compassionate but feels she cannot afford to focus on those traits. Instead she feels that if she does not become adept at assessing people and situations, she will fall victim to her opponents' manipulations. She is equally as stubborn as her father and when the idea of marriage is proposed, she demands to pick her own groom from the lot. The foremost of her goals is to beat her nemesis, the Hanamatsuri Group. All of her machinations to protect herself crumble with the presence of Tetsuya, who holds the other half to this story." Kyoko gestured to Kaien and he smiled widely, causing the women to have to fan themselves with their scripts. Kyoko wryly decided that she was definetly in the presence of some type of predecessor of Tsuruga Ren.

"I think my co-star started their story beautifully. Yuiko is indeed all these things and more. As for Tetsuya, he decides to deal with his position in life a little differently. He knows he will one day inherit his fathers position and will have to take over the business of his eventual wife as well. He makes sure to make himself as psychologically unappealing as possible by being uncooperative and irritating. He knows the woman he will marry must have a strong mind and an even stronger sense of self. He fears that the world he lives in will swallow him whole if he doesn't fight it with everything he's got. He knows he has to stay on top of every development in order to never to be caught off his guard. He makes sure he knows everything before anyone else. he knows that knowledge is power and is determined to use it to his advantage. Enter Yuiko." Kaien gestured to Kyoko.

"Yuiko is the one thing that throws him for a loop. He is confronted with a woman totally different than he expected and fumbles at first, trying to figure out his game plan. As he continues talking to her, he finds her irritating with all her lofty opinions and far too stubborn to admit defeat. Eventually, these are the qualities he comes to love about her. Unfortunately, she happens to be the daughter of the one family his parents refuse to have any contact with at all. When the relationship between the two discovered, all hell breaks loose, for a lack of a better phrase. The family produces a fiance for Tetsuya, introducing her to him as his perfect bride. Tetsuya refuses because he believes, quite naively, that his spouse is one thing that he should be able to do. It's this wish that drives Yuiko and Tetsuya to their deaths, their desire to love and be loved.." Kaien trailed off and caught Kyoko's eye accidentally. She seemed to be evaluating him and Yashiro realized suddenly that this was the same girl that ID'd Ren simply from his _bone_ structure. He needed to run . and fast.

The director dismissed them, saying their first shoot would be tomorrow, at noon and that no one was to be late. Yashiro/Kaien, practically sprinted out of the room. She was onto him, that much he knew. How close she was to guessing the truth would be something he _really _didn't want to find out. He passed a deserted hallway with a door leading to a staircase leading to the first floor. As he passed, an arm shot out and grabbed him, pulling him into the dimly lit stairway. He blinked as his eyes tried to adjust to the lack of light. He saw his kidnapper and stared in surprise.

"Yashiro!"

"Kyoko! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Ha! I knew I was you!" Yashiro closed his eyes as he realized his mistake. He'd given himself away. _Dammit. I didn't even last an hour._

"Yes, its me. How did you know?"

"The bone structure, voice, face. It was too easy." Yashiro grimaced. He clearly needed to work on his character if she caught him that fast.

"Why are you disguising yourself? Why is your hair black? Why are you acting? You didn't tell me you acted! I can't wait to tell Tsuruga-san!"

"Whoa, Kyoko-chan! No. No no. You can't tell Ren about me. He doesn't know anything about this. He doesn't know I used to act. I - it's a long story, I'll tell you some other time." Seeing the confused look on Kyoko's face, Yashiro elaborated.

"Look there were - _circumstances_ - that lead to this. I promise I'll explain it to you." Kyoko looked at him for a moment.

"Alright. But you seriously have to tell me what this is about."

"I swear. I will. Do you promise not to tell Ren?"

"I swear I won't tell him anything."

" You won't tell me what?"

The two whirled around to see Ren peering in at him from the door that led back to the hallway, staring at them confused and slightly suspicious. He walked into the stairwell, closing the door behind him as he saw Yashiro. Black hair and all.

"Tell me what, Mogami-san?" Ren said repeated as a cold chill seemed to emanate from him.

_Shit._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Dinner with a Friend**

Yashiro breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he watched Ren model for a line of clothing from Jean D'Arc. He'd honestly thought he would die when Kyoko had told him what was going on. Instead, he was surprised.

_{Flashback}_

_"Imai Kaien? You? You're Imai Kaien?" Ren was stunned, Yashiro prayed to whatever god was out there to save him from the ass kicking he was about to get._

_"Look, I was going to tell you, I swear. I was just waiting for the right time!" _ _Kyoko laughed._

_"I was shocked when I walked to the meeting and saw Yashiro-san there. Which reminds me Tsuruga-san, how did you know we were here?"_

_"I didn't," Ren answered truthfully, still staring at his manager who he realized he'd never really truly known at all. "I was here to practice my script, and I saw a man seemingly talking to himself, I was going to ask if he needed help and suddenly I hear 'Don't tell Ren' Would you not be curious as well?" Kyoko nodded. Yashiro resisted the urge to smack himself. He was always getting into these situations. If he had just told Ren outright, then maybe he'd have lived through this._

_"Wow, Tsuruga-san, you are so helpful even if you don't need to be! That's just something an actor of your superior calibre would do!" Ren smiled and turned his gaze to the script in Kyoko's hands._

_"So, what kind of project is it?"_

_"Oh, oh, oh, oh!" Kyoko jumped high in the air waving her hand in excitement. "I finally get to play an Oujo-san."_

_"But you were one in Dark - "_

_"Oh yes, but this one isn't twisted. Okay well she__**is**____but that's not the point. She's an actually oujo-sama!"_

_"Okay, but what's the plot?"_

_"Oh it's a_delicious_love story between the heirs to two opposing business conglomerates in modern day Japan. It's a modern take of Romeo & Juliet if you will." Ren turned to stare at Yashiro who paled as Kyoko went off to Lala Land._

_"A love story? How did she end up taking that?" Ren asked. Yashiro shrugged._

_"I have no idea, I thought she hated them too." Ren sighed, glancing around the dusty stairwell his manager and Kyoko were talking in._

_"Well, good luck then. I hope it goes care of her." Ren said clapping the man on the shoulder, subtly indicating their frolicking friend in the background. Yashiro nodded hastily. He hadn't missed the underlying request.__**Take care of her**_

_**{End Flashback}**_

Yashiro had honestly no idea what the younger man would say when the filming actually started, but he hoped that Ren wouldn't feel the need to rearrange his face. His charge was currently posing on a deep red chaise in the center of a photo shoot. It always amazed him that Ren could be surrounded by women and yet still seem displaced from them. These women did as the director asked, draping themselves all over him, and yet, the man didn't even bat an eyelash. He realized he still had to explain to Kyoko why he was acting again. He wondered what lie he would have to come up with. He reached up into his shirt pocket and extracted his phone. He dialled her number and strolled away from the set.

Ren on the other hand, was deep in thought. There was something about this that bothered him. Ren prided himself on doing what his gut and his heart guided him to do. So far, neither had failed him. Then why did he have a sinking feeling about the current situation? It was only Yashiro. The man was a fan-girling and immensely silly. Not to mention that Yashiro was the only actor that was aware of his feelings for the young woman, and he was the last person who would try to lay his hands on her.

He reclined back, with hands behind his head, as directed, still thinking. If that was all, then why was he so uneasy about this? He had the distinct feeling that something big was going to shift in his current sense of his world. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Yashiro opened his cellphone and dialed a number, putting the phone to his ear and smiling slightly when the receiver picked up the phone.

… … …

"So how was it?" Kanae asked Kyoko as they met briefly for lunch before going their separate ways for work. They had decided to eat in a small bistro outside LME.

"The meeting? Wonderful! The actors there are brilliant." Kanae waved her hand impatiently.

"No no. I mean, you're working with Imai Kaien right? What's he like? Did he say why he came back from retirement?" Kyoko blinked.

"No actually. I was wondering that too, but I guess I'll figure it out later."

"Wait, maybe it's the script. Tell me what it was about again?"

"You're so mean Moko-san! You don't remember?"

"Mo, just tell me already."

"Well, it's a modern day Romeo and Juliet -" Kyoko suddenly stopped mid sentence as her cellphone

which was on the table suddenly began to vibrate. Kanae nodded her permission, allowing Kyoko to pick up the phone.

"Hello? Ah, Imai-sempai!" Kanae looked up, eyebrow raised as she watched Kyoko's end of the conversation with the acting legend.

"Today? I get off at …." Kyoko rummaged through her bag and pulled out her daily planner, perusing her schedule. "I get off at 8:30 PM." Kanae watched as Kyoko went red in the face.

"What? Oh no no. I couldn't possibly!" A pause in the conversation, where Kanae assumed Kyoko was being scolded by the expression of guilt on her face.

"No, of course, you're right. What was I thinking, refusing such a kind offer. I'll gladly join you Sempai." Kyoko's face went red as she listened to his response.

"Err..see you soon as well." With a slightly confused expression Kyoko put her phone down, looking at Kanae with almost a pleading expression.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Kanae asked, concerned. That wasn't a normal expression one would wear after conversing with a co-star. Then again, this was Kyoko, nothing was ever _normal_ with her.

" I- I think..Imai-sempai just offered to take me to dinner." Kanae cocked an eyebrow at that. _Amazing. She's got some gift there. _ The young woman mused dryly, looking at the now panicked expression of her friend. _She swept another man off his feet. Tsuruga has his work cut out for him._

"Is that a problem?" Kyoko looked frantically at her best friend.

"A problem?! Why on earth would he choose to have dinner with me? Me of all people?!" Her nervousness at the mere prospect of the outing seemed to paralyze her with fear. Kanae rolled her eyes.

"Relax moron. He's your co-star right?" Kyoko nodded hesitantly. "Then it's basically just a dinner to get to know you. A lot of times, co-stars go out dinner all the time so that they can get comfortable with each other so they can achieve good screen chemistry. The more you understand each other, the easier it is to work as a team when you're acting, right?" Kyoko seemed to relax visibly with that observation.

"Of course. I'm such an idiot. That's such an amazing idea. No wonder he was always so good with his co-star. This is his secret." Kanae watched her with amusement as Kyoko came up with many excuses to explain the dinner away so that it wasn't threatening to her. She couldn't resist needling her just a little.

"On the other hand. What restaurant did he say you were going to ?"

"St. Antonio's?"

"Exactly. Why would you make a friendly dinner in such a romantic place? I mean, at the very least, you can't go there in casual wear, it would require some kind of formal or evening wear wouldn't it?" Kanae chuckled, watching the young woman's eyes go huge with fear, and checked her watch. Conveniently, she had to leave to go to her next filming appointment. She put her end of the bill on the table and rose, taking her purse with her.

"Wait, Moko-san!" Kanae waved at her merrily as she left. She was sure she would receive at leat 20 calls throughout the day from her best friend.

She had to say, she was looking forward to it.

… … …

Ren left LME at 8:30 that night. He had for once stayed at the office longer than his manager. The fact that it wasn`t because he was working and rather because he was talking to the President, was a minor detail. He traveled down the elevator and as he walked towards his car, he realized that he wasn't sure whether or not Yashiro would need a ride tomorrow morning to the office. He still hadn't received Yashiro`s schedule. He dialled his manager's number as he drove out of the underground parking.

"Hello?"

"Ren? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to know if you need a ride tomorrow to work or if you had a shoot tomorrow morning?"

"Oh. No, I`m gonna need a ride."

"Alright, I'll pick you up tomorrow at 9." He heard sounds as if Yashiro was driving.

"Are you driving?"

"What, no. I got a driver from LME. I'm actually-"

"Oh, sorry Yashiro-san, did I hit you?" Ren heard a familiar feminine voice on the other end, aplogizing.

He froze.

"Uh, sorry Ren, I'll have to call you later." Ren was suddenly listening to a dial tone.

_Was that...was that Kyoko?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Busy**

He was not jealous.

Really. He wasn't.

He was _not_ jealous.

Ren repeated this mantra over and over in his head as he thought back to what he'd heard over the phone. He was just..._curious._That was all. That morning when he'd come to pick Yashiro up, he hadn't been able to ask him about it because of the volume of work lined up for him. By the time he had had some time to breathe, Yashiro had left to attend his first film shoot and apparently had to drop Kyoko off for a routine publicity interview after the shoot. As a result, with nothing to do for the rest of the day, seeing as he had an out of town project tomorrow in Osaka, Ren was left to look over some scripts and contracts in Yashiro's office by himself.

Seating himself at Yashiro's desk, Ren worked away steadily for an hour, willing thoughts of Yashiro and Kyoko's rendezvous out of his his eyes finally betrayed him and began to close, at about 5 in the afternoon , Ren turned on the TV in Yashiro's office to serve as background noise. He signed off on a page and flipped to next one, perusing the various clauses.

"And today, we are joined by the lead actress of _To Fall from Above:_ Kyoko!" Ren slowly straightened in his chair, and hesitated slightly before turning to see Kyoko walk on stage in an ensemble that literally stole his breath - and that of others if the slight hitching of breath of the male studio audience was anything to go by.

Kyoko had appeared wearing a thigh length, sweetheart necklined, strapless, black dress; accesorized by a light silver bracelet and 2 inch high black leather pumps. Her hair had been dyed black and lengthened with extensions, no doubt a prep for her role as Kanzawa Yuiko. Her ensemble seemed to accent the smooth, milky whiteness of her skin and lengthened her legs so that they seemed to go on forever. She seemed so slender and delicate, and yet, when you looked into her hazel eyes, he was met with a startling intensity. This was not a delicate woman, this was a woman who took anything you threw at her and returned it tenfold. Then, she smiled. It was a soft, subtle, upward curving of her lips that seemed to make her seem all the more inviting and Ren could see countless men in the audience swallow hard, as he had just done. Some times, he just laughed at the effect she had on him. He swore that no woman in his life had quite enchanted him this thoroughly.

"Hello Kyoko-chan! How are you this fine day!" The host seemed to be a young man, in his early 30s and was deemed a talk show legend in Japan. The amount of scandals he had uncovered were down right astonishing if you really got down to it and started counting. Ren knew from experience that Ikuta Izumi was not a man to take lightly. He was wily and persistent. One slight verbal mistep and you became the next scandal that would last for days. The first time he'd been on the show was when he'd started acting in Japan. It had been a massacre and the press had hounded for days. He shuddered, remembering the situation.

"I'm wonderful, thank you for asking. And yourself?" Kyoko asked politely nodding in acknowledgement of the greeting. Ren could see this was the 'interview' persona she had created for herself around the time of the end of Dark Moon. He breathed a small sigh of relief. This at least was a highly cautious version of herself. SHe rarely talked about her personal life but had no problem outlining her current, past or future project. Kyoko crossed her legs daintily, drawing attention to them again momentarily and Ren realized that the woman was far more attractive than she gave herself credit for and that he would have a hard time protecting her from straying eyes.

"I believe this is your first time on our set, isn't it Kyoko-chan?" Izumi said, resting an elbow on his couch. She smiled.

"Indeed it is. It's a beautiful studio. Probably one of the most elegant ones I've seen yet." The host raised his eyebrows.

"Oh surely that's not true. I'm sure you've been to much better since you started filming _To Fall from Above_with Imai Kaien?" Kyoko thought for a moment as if genuinely considering the question.

"Well, the Dark Moon sets were quite luxurious as well as the home sets on _To Fall from Above_, but they don't have the chandeliers or the soft ambience you've created here." Izumi laughed.

"Very good! You certainly know how to get on a person's good side, Kyoko-chan!" Kyoko chuckled in response.

"I try." She said, winking at him. Ren looked at the host closely. He could see a sort of devious smirk on the man's face. He knew that look. It never meant anything good. He leaned forward unconsiously, following the host's every move.

"So how is it working with such a legend as Imai Kaien, seeing that you, yourself are very much his junior in the acting professsion. Is it intimidating?" Kyoko covered her mouth, concealing a wide smile as she answered the question.

"Intimidating? I wouldn't quite...well..we filmed the initial meeting scene today, and while I can't say he _scared_ me, I can say that he's a force to be reckoned. He's much like my senpai, Tsuruga Ren, if he wants something done while acting, he'll positively _make_ you do it. You almost have no choice. Of course, I am doing my level best, to compete with him. I'm not going down that easy." The host seemed almost surprised, Ren could see as he watched the interview in Yashiro's office, the paper work all but forgotten. Izumi seemed to be trying to push the interview in a certain direction and Kyoko seemed to be evading his efforts. Then Ren saw a shift in dynamic as Izumi squared his shoulders and went at it again.

"So would you say you know him well?" Kyoko thought for a moment. Ren knew she was thinking about how to answer. Technically, she knew him very well, as Yashiro, his manager, but not very well at all as Imai Kaienthe actor. She responded with casual:

"Well, seeing as I only met him..let's see...3 days ago, I don't think I could say I know him that well at all." The talk show host leaned back, hands meeting in front of him in a bit of a temple shape, fingers meeting at the tip with his elbows resting on the arm rests.

"Oh Kyoko-chan, you're so coy. If you didn't know him all that well, then what were you doing with him at St. Antonio's at 9PM yesterday?" Kyoko's eyes widened as the screen behind them displayed a photo of her and Kaien...no Yashiro, eating together in window booth at the restaurant. Ren's pen dropped as he leaned forward, almost in shock and saw that Kyoko was wearing a red sleeveless dress that extended to her knees with smooth red heels. They seemed to eating and being in deep conversation. The color seemed to have drained from Kyoko's face and she seemed momentarily stunned.

"And this is most intriguiging." IzumiThey changed the picture to one of Yashiro leaning over the table to whisper in her ear. Kyoko was looking down at her food and had a deep blush. Izumi turned to his now flustered prey and asked her the question everyone was almost begging to ask.

"Are you and Imai-san..._involved?_" Izumi said, making air quotes, trying to lighten the air. Kyoko managed to squeeze out a faint:

"That was...Imai-senpai was just. -"

"Oh my, Kyoko-chan, don't call your boyfriend _senpai_ it'll hurt his feelings." Izumi admonished, _tsking_ her merrily.

"Oh but he's not!" Kyoko said earnestly, "We're just friends."

"Friends don't really go to exclusive, romantic restaurants at 9 o clock at night, do they? Especially if they've only _just_ met." Kyoko swallowed, and Ren knew that they had her there. On the other hand, she couldn't just come out and say that he was really the friend and manager of her sempai, Tsuruga Ren. It would be betraying Yashiro. But Ren was having trouble enough wrapping his head around the fact that Kyoko had gone to dinner with Yashiro in such a place and hadn't even told him. Come to think of it, neither had Yashiro. As Kyoko prepared to respond, Ren turned the TV off. He couldn't stand to watch anymore. Today was the first time he'd ever regretted taking a job. He was going to be out of town for a week and without Yashiro to boot. He would have no chance to ask them about of it. he thought for a moment.

He would call Kyoko tonight. He wouldn't ask her to explain. He wanted to see if she would tell him herself. He didn't know what he would do if she didn't but decided he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

… … …

Kyoko flopped onto her bed in exhaustion. She was utterly and completely drained of energy. She had honestly shot herself in the foot today at the interview and feared the press reaction the next day. She hadn't even had a chance to speak to Yashiro since the interview. They were both filming separate scenes and hadn't had a chance to coordinate with each other. She thought back to filming their first mutual scene before the interview.

_{Flashback}_

_"Alright people, this is the intro scene where Tetsuya's and Yuiko's first meeting. Remember Kyoko-chan, Imai-san, you meet to discuss plans of negotiation over a property deal. Tetsuya's looking to bully a reportedly weak and timid Yuiko into agreeing to his terms. Yuiko is going to knock him flat on his back, and is intead going to confuse the hell out of him, rejecting the negotiation completely." Director Ayazawa said as all the actors ran to their places. Kyoko felt quite empowered in a sleek black pantsuit and resolved to put her best into the filiming of this shoot. She didn't want to disappoint her collegues._

_"and, ACTION!" Kyoko closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she__**was**__Yuiko._

_Yuiko strode forward and opened the door to the confrence to find a man, roughly two or three years older than her, seated at the table, his back to the window, casting him in shadow. He had three men standing behind him, as if waiting for his command. Yuiko smiled inwardly.__Exactly as predicted. Really, men are so predicatable. It's not fun to knock the ground out from underneath you if you make it that easy.__She entered and seated herself at his gesture._

_"Kanzawa Yuiko, pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I am Nakamura Tetsuya, but of course, you knew that. Only a fool would go into a negotiation misinformed." His smile was cold and calculating as Yuiko primly extended her hand to meet his, and shook it. Tetsutya offered her a cigarette as she settled herself. She accepted and had one of her men light it for her. He suddenly slid a thick sheaf of paper towards her, which she began to leaf through at his ._

_"Now, as you know, we've been in quite an unpleasent situation recently. That poor printing company, Nagasaki Press, is just begging for a way out of their problems and we've so graciously offered to help them, but your associates are causing a significant problem. Really, for you, bringing this company to it former glory is something that you niether have time for and frankly I'm not sure you are capable to do it all. Ah, don't think I mean you, yourself, are incompetent, but as you know, sometimes company's that are...overstretched, as yours is, it causes problems in management, don't you agree?" Yuiko felt her subordinates grow restless and agitated at the man's thinly veiled insults to their company, and held a hand out subtly, out of sight of Tetsuya, still calmly smoking._

_"So what I am proposing is to you is to sign over your half of the shares in the companyto the Hanamatsuri Group, the rest of the shares, we, of course, own. Naturally, we shall compensate for your loss adequately, make no mistake. But this way, this will benefit us all, we get a company to add to the fine name of Hanamatsuri, the employees of the Nagasaki Press will find their jobs secure and you will find your self in generous surplus of liquid assests. A fine deal, don't you agree?" Tetsuya smiled at her, a smile that was quite triumphant. Yuiko chuckled, much to his surprise,__this man thinks he has me cornered and fooled. Only a fool would fall for something as paltry as this.__She looked up at Tetsuya and slid the contract back to him, tapping a bit of ash into the ash tray. She finally met his gaze and Tetsuya was startled to see the hard gaze of a veteran business woman, rather than the timid persona he had seen all through his deal._

_"Don't patronize me Tetsuya-san." She said, sitting straight up in her chair and crossing her legs and arms, one hand holding the cigarette, looking calmly at him. "You know very well, that you do not plan to help that business back on its feet. You plan to raze that place to the grouund and build residential condominiums in the center of the Shibuya district. You would market it as a luxury living space, that only those of superior wealth may stay there. You plan to dump those workers out onto the streets, stripping them of their livelihood." Tetsuya reclined in his chair, smirking, though a little surprised in the sudden 180 of her personality. This was not at all what he had been given in his intelligence reports of Kanzawa Yuiko._

_"You wound me. I of course intend to do no such thing. We care about the employee's as well." Yuiko rolled her eyes, taking a slow drag of the cigarette._

_"I didn't come here to play with a spoiled little pretty boy. Let me tell you right now, we have no intention of signing__**anything**__over to you, and you would do well to watch your__**own**____management, Tetsuya-san, I would imagine that your own status within Nagaski Press is quite fragile to begin with." Yuiko stood up, taking note of Tetsuya's stunned expression. "We'll take our leave now, if you do not mind." She turned and began to leave as Tetsuya got up and slammed his hands down on the table._

_"This is__**not**__over, Kanzawa, you can be sure of that!" Yuiko stopped and walked back to the table, putting out the cigarette and putting both hands on the table._

_"Is that so? Well then, " she blew the last of the smoke in his face, "come and get me pretty boy." Yuiko turned once more and strode out of the room. As the door closed behind her, a new member of her subordinates exclaimed:_

_"That was amazing, Ojou-sama!" She laughed as she accepted coffee from another subordinate._

_"That, Takahiro, is how you eliminate the opposition."_

_{End Flashback}_

Kyoko, even on her way to the interview, could not stop thinking about the amazing presence Yashiro - Imai Kaien - had exuded in the scene. She almost believed she was sitting across from a real heir to a wealthy business congolmerate. She groaned. And now she had possibly created a huge issue for everyone involved. She was startled suddenly as her phone rang. Kyoko dug it out of her purse and was surprised to see Yashiro's name on the caller ID. She guessed he'd seen the interview. She gulped as she she flipped the phone open and accepted the call.

"Hello?"

… … …

Across Tokyo, Ren sat on his bed, debating whether or not to call Kyoko. He decided he would just do it. Delaying it was not helping him at all. He flipped his phone open and dialed Kyoko's number. He put it to his ear and listened.

"I'm sorry, the person you are trying to reach is currently busy, please call back again later." Ren looked at his phone in surprise. It was 11:30pm. _Who on earth was she talking to?_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hi Guys, I'm back with Chapter 6 of Hands Off! What do you think so far? This is the first time I'm writing a proper story haha! I'm getting this one done and then I have another 2 ideas lined up for stories that I'm just dying to get on paper- er - the computer. And to answer REDRydingHood's question, no, actually the story of _To Fall From Above_ is a story of my own creation, though the base is William Shakespeare's _Romeo & Juliet. _Well, do read and review and enjoy the story!

**Chapter 6: What is Going On**?

Ren felt terrible. He hadn't felt this bad since his last run in with Fuwa. He had been in Osaka for the last 3 days, since the shooting had been delayed due to weather, filming an advert for a men's cologne line. It was early evening when they had begun the shoot and he was trying to will thoughts of Yashiro and Kyoko out of his mind. Just because they had gone to dinner together, didn't mean anything. Even if they hadn't told him about it. It wasn't like they _had_ to tell him. He wasn't their jailer or something; it wasn't like Kyoko had to tell him every time she saw someone that wasn't him. That didn't help his mood though. He was lucky that the theme for the shoot was dark, gothic, because his mood had hit rock bottom.

"Ne, ne. Doesn't Tsuruga-san seem very focused today?" Two makeup artists whispered to each other as the film shoot progressed. They watched as Ren sat in an elaborate set, upon a mahogany colored chaise, swirling a delicate glass of red wine. Adding to the dim lighting, an attractive raven haired woman sat perched atop Ren in an elegant, long wine colored gown, swirling an identical glass of wine. At the directors cue, both Ren and the woman sipped from their glasses, glancing at each other seductively, lips lightly stained with the wine.

He just didn't understand the current situation; Yashiro had never been this close to Kyoko. Yes, he talked to her occasionally, but never this much. Ren had the uncanny feeling that he was being pushed out of Kyoko's very life. Already, it had been a week since he'd seen her last, when he'd caught them in the stairwell at TBM studios. Even then, Yashiro had wanted to keep Ren out of the "secret" and he wasn't sure why. Unless it would hurt him to know, Yashiro told Ren everything. The fact that he wanted to keep something like that a secret from Ren was unfathomable to him. To top it all off, he hadn't been able to talk to Kyoko since the interview. No matter what time in the evening he called, her phone went straight to voicemail or was busy. He assumed she was talking to Kanae, but the nagging suspicion hadn't gone away.

He couldn't help but be uneasy. Even if it was just Yashiro, even if it was a friend of his, it put him on edge. Ren looked at his watch as the director dismissed them, his words not even registering in Ren's mind, the nationwide promo premier was today. They would air a half an hour teaser first episode to the series tonight. The media was going nuts, anticipating what the drama would be like considering it practically brought Imai Kaien back from the dead. Ren remembered watching a few of Kaien's works when he was younger, and he remembered the intensity of the emotions the man had brought to his roles. His confession scene from his drama, _From Far Away_ was still burned into his mind, it was a part of the reason he became an actor.

Ren trudged back to the hotel, ignoring the many propositions from female actors to accompany them to dinner, as he made his way to his hotel room. He sighed as he opened the door to the room, tossing his suit coat on the couch in his two bedroom-ed suite. He picked up the phone and ordered an American style hamburger dinner as he tried to relax before he sat down to watch Kyoko's first large solo project as a protagonist. Ren sighed again as he realized that he was slightly jealous of Yashiro being her first male co-star. He had always thought it would be him. Guess he'd been wrong. As his dinner arrived, Ren settled down at his living room table and turned on the TV.

It was time.

… … …

_It's happening. Oh god it's happening._ She had never thought she would get this far. The drama was finally premiering right now and she felt like her heart was just trying to commit suicide from sheer nervousness. On the other hand it wasn't the only reason. No, there were other extenuating circumstances for her internal turmoil and that was -

"Are you comfortable Kyoko-chan?" She looked up to see Yashiro walk in to the living room from the kitchen, carrying two glasses filled with light champagne and a tray of miniature seafood oer d'oeuvres. He set it down on the center table and handed Kyoko her glass as he sat down next to her. He had invited her over today, seeing as it was a Friday, to watch the national premier of their drama. She had stupidly agreed until she realized where they were watching it.

His house.

It wasn't lavish or particularly rich looking as she had expected, but rather a common, one bedroom-ed apartment, with the kind of décor and lifestyle indications she would expect to see in a bachelor's house. He'd given her a cursory tour, making jokes the entire time about the size and tininess of the place.

"Are you nervous?" He said to Kyoko, smiling amusedly as he watched the glass in her hand shake ever so slightly. She nodded meekly, willing the blush on her cheeks away.

"A - a little." Yashiro patted her hand soothingly, oblivious to her slight jump at the touch. But all was forgotten as the opening credits to their show began. Yashiro reclined back into his couch, completely relaxed, nudging Kyoko to relax as well as he offered her the oer d'oeuvres. Soon she became so engrossed into the show that her nervousness had been almost completely forgotten.

… … …

Ren found himself unable to eat as he watched the show, its story unexpectedly pulling him in. And unfortunately, though expectedly for him, the uneasiness inside him increased.

_{To Fall From Above}_

_[Voice Over: Kyoko] In the world of business, there is no compromise, there is no victor. There is only sorrow and heartbreak. From the first day to this, sheer greed was the driving spirit of civilization. - Friedrich Engels. [Voice Over End]_

_A pair of shiny black stilettos clacked on the floor of the hallway, as 3 other, business shoe clad feet hurried behind her._

_"Kuze, the Matsawa Company file?" She held out a perfectly french manicured hand for the file, the Gucci hand bag she carried, slung becomingly on her elbow. _

_"Here, Ma'am." The blond haired man bowed as he handed her the file._

_"Good. Takahiro, where's my morning coffee?" She asked as she flipped through the folder._

_"On your desk Ma'am."_

_"Get me the tart I had last time from the café down on Third Street."_

_"Bonheur?" _

_"Yes. Kyōya, I want the Matsawa's here by three, also, the file for the hostile takeover in China's Hong Kong district is __**still **__incomplete. Why? I want it done within the hour. I want a board meeting called for three o clock. There is still the results from this quarters business deals to discuss and I want to know how the rest of the company is dealing with their workload."_

_"Very well Ma'am." He held the glass door to her office open for her, and shut it behind her as she sat down at the desk, continuing to study the file. __**This doesn't make any sense. **__She thought, confused. __**The Matsawa's had more than enough money last month to pay off their mortgage on the property. They had no large shipments of merchandise coming in and they aren't having any work done to the place, so why are they suddenly in ¥300, 000.00 in debt?**__ She closed her eyes and thought back to her last meeting with the owner. __**Everything was normal, but he was weirdly anxious. He's never like that with me. With dad, the anxiousness I could understand. But Matsawa-san never had reason to fear me. Everyone that was there was always there...except for that man in the back.**__ She thought she had recognized the man, but hadn't paid attention to him since everything had been going as normal. She picked up the phone and called her executive secretary._

_" Kyōya, I want everything on that man that was there in the back, wearing the black suit, driving the American car, plate number, Alpha, Delta, Four, Six, Larry, Alpha." Ten minutes later, he came in and dropped the intelligence file on the desk, saying only word as forewarning. _

_"Hanamatsuri." Yuiko slammed a fist on the desk as she leafed through the report. She knew she had recognized him. Tachibana Uchiyama. He was one of the Hanamatsuri lackeys. One of many. __**Too damn many**__, she growled. __**He was probably blackmailing the Matsawa`s so the company went under. **__She checked her schedule and saw that she had a meeting in an hour with Nakahara Tetsuya. She grinned coyly as she sipped her coffee and leaned back in her chair. __**I am going to knock you on your flat pansy ass pretty boy.**_

… … …

_Nakahara Tetsuya leaned back in his chair, savoring the imported cigars he had just been given as a gift from the wife of a client. Though, he to admit, the method of delivery had been decidedly __**less**__ than professional. He leafed through the intelligence file his vice-president had brought him._

_**Kanzawa Yuiko, huh?**__ Tetsuya thought, blowing smoke out slowly. __**Meek, timid, and no spine. Does whatever she`s told and basically, she's daddy's little toy. And they're setting up the negotiation meeting with her? What do they take me for? Some kind of loser? If this is how they're going to play the game, they better not blame me if I get a little rough. This little girl is about get schooled in a way she won't forget for a long time.**_

"_Koji!" Said man came running in, looking expectantly at his boss. _

"_Get the car out, it's time to do a little digging. Also, make sure the Matsawa's pay up the __¥300, 000.00 they owe us. If they don't pay it back by the end of the week, the whole place had better sink. Understand?__" _

_Koji gulped, the hesitation clear in his eyes. Tetsuya narrowed his eyes, he walked back to him and tapped him in the chest with his case file._

"_I asked you a question Koji? I do not like repeating myself." Koji centered himself and willed the fear away. He nodded furiously._

"_Yes sir. Right away."_

"_Good. And Koji?"_

"_Yes sir."_

"_The next time I see you hesitate in front of me, I will dump your sorry ass on the street. Am I clear?" Tetsuya's eyes remained, cold and calculating; putting pressure on the one point Koji couldn't get away from. He knew the man was struggling to support his large family, and that he didn't have a choice. He could not afford to be unemployed, even for a short period of time. It would ruin him._

"_Let's go. I am going to sink Daijou Corporations even if it is the last thing I do in my life."_

_[End of To Fall From Above]_

Ren sat still as the credits rolled onscreen, what he had just seen, was for him, an amazing start to a show that he was sure would be amazingly popular to the Japanese audience. He picked up the phone and dialed Yashiro's number.

"Hello?"

"Yashiro?"

"Ren! How are you? How's Osaka? I'm sorry I couldn't go with you."

"That's fine, listen, I just wanted to tell you, I was watching the first telecast of the drama, and you guys have done an amazing job, it's good to have you back in the acting world." He smiled slightly as Yashiro began to sputter slightly.

"Holy, Ren you're making me blush you wonderful person."

"Will you stop that? Anyways, where are you?" Ren rolled his eyes at his manager.

"Me? I'm at home, I was watching the first airing with –"

"Yashiro-kun? Is that Tsuruga-san?" Ren's eyes widened as he heard Kyoko's voice on the other end.

"Huh? Oh yeah, here." Ren heard shuffling as Yashiro handed the phone off to Kyoko.

"H-hello?" Kyoko's voice was decidedly shaky as she spoke.

"Good evening Mogami-san, what a surprise, I didn't expect you to be at Yashiro's home." Ren crossed his arms over his chest as he heard a small hitch in Kyoko's breath.

"Yes well, um, we decided it would be fun to watch it together since it was the first episode."

"Oh, I see. And are you having fun?" He heard Kyoko begin to stammer as his mood began to turn dark, which he was sure the young woman could feel.

"Uh oh um. Yes, yeah, I'm having fun. L-lot's of fun, right Yashiro-san?"

" Of course. That reminds me, Kyoko we have reservations at 9PM, we're going to be late if we don't hurry."

"Oh uh right. Well, Tsuruga-san, I have to go, but I hope to talk to you soon, and I'm glad that you liked the drama."

"Hn."

"O-okay, well, talk to you soon." The line went dead after a few moments of Kyoko waiting for a reply from Ren. Ren stared at the phone for a moment, before he became aware of his phone vibrating. He slowly picked it up and saw that he had a text from Yashiro.

_Why are you scaring the poor girl? Give her some slack._

Ren gazed at the phone for a moment before his face contorted in a momentary bout of irritation and chucked it to the other sound of the room, taking some small satisfaction in the crash he heard. Suddenly, Ren seemed to realize that he was reverting to Kuon, letting his emotions get to him. He sank back down on to his bed, lying on his back, the palm of his hands on his closed eyes. He let out an explosive sigh. He felt confused, irritated and annoyed. The last two aimed at his manager. Ren didn't want to be angry, he didn't want to feel like he was fighting against something he wasn't even sure existed. He had _never_ thought that his opponent for Kyoko's affection would be _Yashiro_? Guess the man had been right when he had said that he could have opponents, and it could be anyone.

Well, anyone turned out to be _Yashiro Yukihito._

He sighed again, rolling over and opening his tablet and pulling up a photo of Kyoko at LME in her notorious pink suit. He closed his eyes, letting it drop on to the bed beside him.

_Damn it. What the hell is going on?_


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Right so I know I said I would update on Wednesday but some how I was carted off to New Jersey...and well...here I am! This is something of a filler chapter but whatever. It's a long one. And i know it may seem confusing right now, but bear with me. it shall all come together eventually.

**Chapter 7: Avoiding**

Kyoko sat in the makeup room on set and shook her head, trying to get rid of the memories from the night before. There was a pit of nervousness that sat in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't get rid of no matter how she tried. This morning on her way to the studio, she had practically been run over by paparazzi, all asking her about Imai Kaien and had only found reprieve when Lory had conveniently pulled up next to her in his gaudy pink limousine. She shuddered to think of the treatment the man in question must have received as a result of her incompetence. She resolved to ask for his forgiveness the minute she saw him. Kyoko faltered a little bit when she thought of seeing him. He had said the most outrageous things last night! And he would have acted on them as well had she not begged for mercy.

On the other hand, when she thought back to the paparazzi, she realized she may have escaped them but she most definitely had not escaped their questions. And they ran through her mind so thoroughly that all her memorized lines had flown clear from her head.

_"Kyoko why were you out again last night with Imai Kaien?! Are you really dating a man 5 years your senior?"_

_"Don't you think this is a taboo? Such a May-December relationship!" "What do you have to say to those women who are in love? What advice would you give?!"_

_A woman in love?_ Kyoko blushed indignantly as her make up was being done. Her make-up artist, now so used to these internal monologues, didn't even blink as Kyoko' s face suddenly took on a deep red hue. She was not in love!...Was she? She remembered Yashiro's behaviour and body language from the night before and rapidly shook her head. _No way. I can not be in love with him. It is not possible. I've only known him a year._

As the makeup artist finished lining her lips, Kyoko worked hard to center herself. Even if she was confused internally, she could not be inconveniencing everyone else with half hearted work. The door to the makeup room opened suddenly opened to reveal Suzuki Chizu, appearing today for the first time on the series as Tetsuya's fiancée. Kyoko hadn't had much time to get to know the woman, but she seemed nice enough, a woman with a determined but gentle nature. Although right now; "gentle" had been replaced with anxious for the time being. She stood next to Kyoko, fidgeting and staring at the young woman. It worried Kyoko though, this was not a woman who was the type to engage in stage fright seeing as she was a former child star. So clearly, whatever was making the actress this antsy had something to do with Kyoko.

"Um Kyoko-chan..?"

"Good Morning Suzuki-san, what can I do for you?" She said, smiling as well as she could as her eyes were given the final finish and the task was handed over to the hair dresser.

A red flush spread across the young woman's cheeks, causing Kyoko to look at her quizzically.

"Are you alright Suzuki-san? You look awfully red."

"Uh yes. I was - its just - I wanted to - Well I wondered if you were actually.." Chizu's voice seemed to keep lowering in volume as she progressed in her speech. "...involved with Imai-san?"

Kyoko started violently in her seat, shocked by the question. Though she now mirrored the blush that dwelt on Suzuki's cheek and she averted her gaze, looking anywhere but at another human being.

"Oh my goodness, no. " She said, mortified. "No I am not, involved with him. We're," The blush intensified as she looked at Chizu. "..Just friends, Suzuki-san. Really." Though Suzuki remained slightly suspicious she chose to believe Kyoko and bowed an left the room, thanking her for her honesty. Moments after she left, another knock on the door alerted her to the arrival of another visitor. She greeted him, willing the nervousness to go away.

"Good morning Kaien-san. You're in the wrong room you know."

"Ahh, but going to my own room is boring!" He grinned, clapping her on her shoulder. "Are you ready for episode two? I'm going to kick your little acting behind today!" Kyoko narrowed her eyes.

"So you are challenging me! I thought it was funny, the fact that you were pushing me so hard."

"Me?" Kaien pointed a surprised finger at himself. "Hey you, Who was the one who told Lory they would wipe the floor with me?" He gave her an expectant look, while Kyoko flushed; trying to hold on to the glare she was giving him.

"I think I have had enough of your needling Kaien-san. It isn't polite you know, this is not how a gentleman behaves with a woman, it's rude!" She scolded him though she was trying to keep from smiling herself.

"Oh really? And like what you did to me last night wasn't rude?" Kyoko's mouth dropped open in shock as she sat up in her seat.

"Kaien! You promised to never speak of that again! I told you it was an accident!" She looked so embarrassed and scandalized that she missed the looks that the makeup crew were sending each other. Kaien put his hands up in a sign of defeat.

"Alright, alright, I give, but we will pick this up later." He left the room, walking backwards pointing at her the whole way. Kyoko slumped in her seat when he was gone. He was so tiring! She had been exhausted by the time she had reached home last night. How could he have said that with so many other people in the room! Kyoko wailed to herself. She glanced up covertly to see if the conversation had had an impact on the others but was relieved to see none. Instead, they all seemed to be busy on their phones. Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't been found out.

… …. …

Ren walked on to set with Yashiro in tow. The older man had picked up his charge at the airport in his car, driving with latex gloves, and had promptly whisked him away to his first job after stopping by his apartment to pick some necessary items and change clothes. It was the first time Ren had ever wished that Yashiro was not his manager. It took every bit of self-control in him not to ask Yashiro about his 'excursions' for a lack of a better word with Kyoko. Furthermore, it was rather infuriating that the usually gossipy manager was not willing putting forward any information on his own. In fact, it seemed like Yashiro was acting as if nothing had happened. All things considering, Ren was in a pretty foul mood.

"Alright, so are you serious about this? Do you really want this role?" Yashiro asked, flipping through a sizable contract and script for a movie. Hearing no answer, Yashiro looked up to find Ren staring at him as if he were a rather complicated puzzle. Yashiro waved his hand in front of his face.

"Reeeen? Oiiii. Anybody home?" Ren blinked out of his thoughts and looked at his manager.

"Oh right, sorry, what were you saying?" Yashiro tsked at him and repeated what he said.

"Are you really sure you want to do this role? It's a supporting role, and not a serious role to boot. You really want to play Nakatsu Shuichi? You'd have to go blond for a while you know." Ren nodded, not hesitating. He knew what he wanted to try something different, something not cold, aloof, brutal or brooding. He wanted to try something light, something that didn't weigh him down as much as his own personal demons did, he didn't need the weight of a characters trouble as well. Ren wondered if he would be able to pull it off. Then again, all that relied on was hard work in which he wasn't lacking.

"I'm sure."

Yashiro sighed, as he closed the script and slipped it back into his briefcase.

"Alright then. Let's do this. You're really going to have to prove yourself in there. Nothing but the absolute best will work because at first no matter what you do, you'll look all wrong acting like such a fool. But just work hard and make them see you as Nakatsu."

He clapped Ren on the shoulder and turned to go on in.

"Yashiro?" Yashiro turned and looked at Ren quizzically.

"What?" Ren stared at him for a moment, an indescribable look on his face. Then he shook his head at him.

"Never mind." Yashiro looked at him oddly and then shrugged, turning the handle to go in.

… … …

Kanae sat on her yoga mat in her room, doing hand to toe stretches, phone on the desk next to her, set on speaker.

"And then, and then! He went teased about last night! In front of everyone!" Kanae rolled her eyes as she rose on her hands and feet in a backwards arch as she listened to Kyoko rant.

"So? He was right, wasn't he? What's the point in all mad about it. You did what you did, you can't change that. So what if you had a little fun doing it?"

"Buuuuut~!" Came Kyoko's admittedly worked up voice over the phone. "If this keeps up, he'll see right through me!"

Kanae raised an eyebrow as she slowly came back down and stretched her hands to her toes again.

"Would that be so bad? Like he said, you certainly seemed to enjoy yourself just fine last night." Kanae took a decidedly malignant glee in Kyoko's mortified shrieking and sputtering over the phone.

"Moko-san! How could you!"

"Oh calm down you psycho. It's the truth isn't it?"

Kyoko's strong voice turned into mumbling.

"I wouldn't say I enjoyed it per se. I was merely...satisfied."

"Uh-huh." Kanae said disbelievingly as she got up and did a stretch, bringing her left foot straight up next to her head.

"When you decide to come clean about how you feel about this idiot, we'll talk."

"Buut Mooooko-saaan!"

"No buts."

"Mouu. Fine."

"Good. Bye."

"Byee."

Kanae finished her last stretch and stared at the phone on the desk. She got up and grabbed a bath towel, tossing her phone into her bag.

"Jeez, there has to be a limit to unconscious seduction you idiot. Now you're driving him crazy." She shook her head wryly and walked into the bathroom.

"Mo. whatever happens next, you better be prepared to deal with. You're leading two men to a battle you dunce."

… … …

Kyoko narrowly avoided tripping as she carried 4 bowls of ramen to a table at the front of the Darumya.

Focus! She smacked herself in the head after setting the bowls down, earning herself odd looks from the patrons. She walked back to the kitchen dejectedly and signed off her shift, trudging upstairs deep in thought. This morning had been a disaster. Well a disaster according to her. Everyone else had loved her acting but only Kyoko knew the true inner turmoil she faced while acting. It just served to make her more determined to act well. She was just disappointed at how much he affected her mind. She had thought she was stronger than this.

She thought back to her acting session, and remembered that this week's episode was going to air in five minutes. She switched on her small TV set in her room and set the channel to the drama. If she was right, this week was the first meeting of Tetsuya and Yuiko on social grounds.

She recalled before shooting, that Yashiro had sent her that superior smile of his, infuriating her, and making her zealously act her out her role.

_{To Fall From Above: Episode 2}_

**{Yuiko Voice Over}: **_Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr. _

"Yuiko darling! Hurry. We don't want to be late." Yuiko rolled her eyes, allowing herself a moment of impropriety before schooling her expression to its trademark meek look. She stifled a low curse as se wrapped her silk scarf around her waist and made last minute adjustments to her hair and dress. She walked out to the car to find her parents waiting for her, her father with a disapproving frown on his face. His eyes skimmed over her sheer black dress, Grecian goddess in nature, and silver heels. Her mother smiled nervously as her father grunted a barely audible.

"It'll do."

In the car, Yuiko resisted the urge to interrupt her father as he detailed what their attack plan would be on the Nakamura's at the soiree. Yuiko however, had her own plans. _Please. What's the point of constantly being on the offensive? If the enemy can predict all of your moves, you're as good as dead. No. It's better to remain neutral today. That way I can see what that guy is capable of doing. Besides, Izumi-san will not be amused if he finds out his party is being used for business purposes. Not that it stops anyone though, but I'd rather not get on his bad side._

As they pulled up to the mansion, Yuiko took the opportunity to estimate the number of guests in attendance. She guessed near 150 as she realized this was clearly an exclusive event designed to elevate the Izumi family name. It seemed today was the 60th birthday of Izumi Senior which coincided with the inaugural opening of an overseas factory set. _Of course, _she mused_, one would be a fool to say this was __**just**__ a party. Even if Izumi-san didn't like it, he had to admit, the amount of networking taking place in a setting like this was inevitable._ _This is a battlefield. And may the fiercest warrior win. _Yuiko allowed herself a small smirk before setting her expression to its usual timid meekness. She was assisted out of the car by her cousin Kouno, her mother's niece and her supposed fiancé, though neither she nor he had managed to procure any feelings past platonic for each other though they were fiercely protective of one another, having been engaged since they were 12. Though, at 25, the engagement seemed second nature to them.

She entered the hall on his arm, and scanned the room to find out who was in attendance, as she made small talk with various people that approached them such as the president of Japan Entertainment Inc. She smiled as she complimented the president's wife on her outfit, despite seeing his mistress in the background smirking deviously. Yuiko sighed inwardly, it was this side of business she hated the most. The deception. The lies. Both fundamental parts of survival in a world as harsh as hers. Suddenly, as Yuiko took a small glass of champagne from a waiter, she felt an impact around her knees, nearly felling her. She twisted her waist around and looked behind her to see a small girl or four or five clinging to the back of dress. She glanced up at Kouno and then Yuiko, seemingly terrified. Yuiko, with some difficulty extracted herself from the child`s grasp and knelt to face her.

"Hi sweet heart, are you alright?" She asked the girl, who to her credit, did not cry despite sniffling.

"I- I can't find Onii-chan." Yuiko raised an eyebrow at that. _That's an odd way of saying it. A daughter of a raised family would have been taught to call her brother Aniue-san*._ She held the little girl's hands to calm her down.

"Why don't you tell me your name?"

"Maiko."

"That's a pretty name Maiko. Now, let's go look for your brother. Okay?" Maiko nodded and began scanning the room, more at ease now that she had someone's hand to hold. At first they wandered aimlessly, Maiko searching earnestly while Yuiko just watched her, feeling a little odd as the girl made her pity her coming future. One full of appearances and nothing else. A family that happened to have a son and a daughter often found the daughter being treated as a showpiece. She could tell that this was most likely the case here as well especially with the age difference that she was most probably going to encounter.

Suddenly, Maiko's lit up as she spotted her older brother.

"Onii-chan!" Little Maiko suddenly seemed to gain insurmountable strength as she powered through the crowd, practically dragging Yuiko with her. Once they had reached the understandably startled young man, Yuiko stood, trying to primly not wheeze and wince as her feet complained they were not meant to be used as such when using such steep heels. Yuiko now ventured to look at the man the young girl had declared to be her brother and nearly did a double take. There in front of her stood and equally surprised Nakamura Tetsuya, dressed in an impeccable white suit, with a woman she recognized as Sumiyoshi Asuka, his fiancée.

_{Show Interrupted}_

Kyoko stared at the image she had paused at the screen, remembering the shooting process for these scenes. There had been so many mishaps. Everything in her wardrobe had decided to work against her that day. First, the artist had mis-measured her, making the bust far tighter than it needed to be, causing her to nearly faint from the restricted airflow in her body, then there was the broken scaffolding that had threatened to crush her, and Yashiro's ensuing rescue attempt from it that left them in a provocative situation on the studio floor. She remembered most off all, the missed call from Tsuruga-san. She hadn't spoken to him since that day at Yashiro's house. Something about him seemed so…_confrontational_ about him that day she found herself avoiding his calls. She didn't know how to face him with whatever kind of hostility he seemed to be harbouring within him. At the same time however, she desperately wanted to erase whatever it was that was making him adopt such a foul mood, but then there were Yashiro's words to consider and that made her want to avoid him more than ever. She didn't want to know what his reaction would be when he learned the truth. She shuddered and attempted to return to watching the drama.

_{Drama Restart}_

"Ah. It's you." Tetsuya seemed just as irritated by her appearance as she was with his.

"Maiko, what is this? Why on earth would ask this woman for help?"

"Well you said to find a nice person to help me. And she looked nice, she's pretty too! Not like that _thing_ holding you." Yuiko suppressed an impressed chuckle as she inwardly applauded the young girl's biting insult towards the woman. Asuka stiffened and she scowled at the child when she was sure Tetsuya couldn't see it.

"Maiko! That was rude. Apologize." He said warningly to her. _Better leave now, _Yuiko thought. _This isn't really something I should be seeing. It's bad for her self-esteem._

"Well, seeing as Maiko-san seems to have found her brother, I shall leave now." She did a semi bow, out of politeness and began to walk away, only to be stopped again as she was halted by a familiar force.

"No!" Maiko had stomped one foot down on her expensive dress, not allowing Yuiko to leave. Yuiko sighed, throwing a glare to Tetsuya, telling him to get her off her dress.

"Maiko! Be a good girl and don't stomp on onee-san's dress! It's pretty, do you want to ruin it?" _Onee-san?_ Yuiko thought, the word was almost foreign to her, no one having ever used it on her before. He sent Yuiko an annoyed look and mouthed,

_Look what you've done now._

Yuiko stared at him incredulously as she bent to Maiko's level.

"Maiko-chan, Onee-san doesn't want to leave either, but I have to find my family, like you had to find yours."

_Me? _She glared indignantly at him. _How is this my fault? She's the one who won't let go!_

"Buuuut~" Maiko whined, clutching Yuiko's dress.

It took several more minutes but Yuiko managed to release herself from Maiko's grip and found Kouno again, shaking her head tiredly when he asked who the brother was and what had taken her so long.

_What an exhausting family. I need some air._

… … …

Tetsuya watched as Yuiko walked away, finally free from his sister, who had been tamed finally by their mother. Something about the Kanzawa woman intrigued him. Though he would never admit defeat where business was involved, he acknowledged that her skill was formidable. She had knocked him senseless and for that he blamed no one but himself.

"Tetsuya-san?" He was startled out of his reverie by Asuka.

"My apologies, I was lost in thought."  
>They began to walk again, circling the room, with Asuka talking about various functions and things she had attended and bought over the last month she hadn't seen him. Tetsuya soon tuned her out as was his custom, observing the rest of the room.<p>

_It's so fake. _He realized as he continued walking. _Everything is a façade, nothing is real. Not the people, not the place, not even the reason we're even here right now. I need to get out. I need to get away._ He thought as he glanced at Asuka's face. _I need some air._

… … …

Walking on to the third floor balcony, Tetsuya took a deep breath. He looked around just taking in the night sky and the atmosphere. Almost immediately, he noticed a figure in the corner, on the other side from where he was. He recognized it to be Kanzawa Yuiko, leaning against the railing, her sheer dress billowing in the wind, making her seem almost ethereal. It was of a sheer black, that accentuated the whiteness of her own skin, making her décolletage that more appealing to the male eye.

She had let her hair down from its up do. She seemed to be here for the same reason as him. To calm herself down from the complexity of what was happening inside. He kept silent, watching as she let down her guard, her set expression melting into one of serenity, and seeing her stature transform from prim and proper to one of almost carefree abandon. It was completely mesmerizing. Something inside him, something he couldn't explain to himself, told him that this was a woman worth getting to know. There was something in that all seeing gaze of hers that made him want to see what she was like. As if in a trance, he approached her, putting a hand softly on her shoulder.

She whirled and turned to him, unsteady on her feet, tripping and landing unsteadily against the railing, almost falling. He was quick to catch her hand, and draw her close to him. There was something about her eyes. He couldn't look away. Her beautiful hazel eyes drew him in and he saw her eyes searching his, wide and startled, confused by the intensity of his gaze.

_{Drama End}_

Kyoko blushed and buried her face in her pillow. It had been so nerve-wracking to see such an expression aimed directly at her. This aspect of love in her character was kicking her butt and was wreaking havoc with her perception on things she had thought were so concrete in her life. It made her think about the way she had lived her life since Sho's rejection.

… … …

Ren sat, speechless, staring at his tv screen, his euphoria at nailing the audition waning. _What the hell is this? This isn't how a friend looks at a woman. I mean I know they're acting but there shouldn't be this much intensity in this look. Kyoko's stunned, she can barely keep her calm under that look._ He shook his head, turning the TV off and retreated into his room.

That was it. He was going to see Kyoko tomorrow, even if it killed him. Even if this was Yashiro, something funny was going on, and he was going to find out what. With this determined thought, Ren went about his nighttime ritual.

…. … …

"Mooooko-saaaaaan!" Kanae winced as she saw the ball of energy rushing towards her. There was no avoiding Kyoko when she was like this. Kanae grunted as the very life was being squeezed out of her with Kyoko's bone crushing hugs.

"How are you?" The actress asked her best friend, beaming.

"Great. Just great. I saw the drama last night by the way. Nice work." She braced herself as Kyoko's eyes went large and watery.

"MOKO-SAN! YOU ARE SO-"

"Mogami-san? What are you doing?" Kyoko froze. She turned around slowly praying it wasn't who she thought it was, despite knowing the vanity of such a prayer.

"H-hello, Tsuruga-san." She hoped to God, finger's crossed that he hadn't noticed that she was avoiding him.

"Care to tell me why you've been avoiding me?"

_Well. Kyoko, at least be happy you've made your will in advance._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And I'm back. Chapter 8 people. READ AND REVIEW.**

**Chapter 8: Liars in Love**

"I – I-I…" Kyoko stuttered at him. Her brain felt frozen, she had no idea what to do or say. She _had _been avoiding him, but she couldn't tell him that could she? He'd gut her like a fish for her insolence. She shuddered. Of course, she was avoiding him for a reason. A legitimate one. But she couldn't tell him that either. If she could have, she wouldn't have been in this mess. Logically speaking, she _should_ have told him first but things had worked out so that Kanae had found her out first, and now she was too scared to tell him. Truth be told, she was more terrified of him now than she'd ever been.

His gaze didn't waver however, even as he noticed her shrinking away from him. He had told himself that come hell or high water, he would weasel the truth out of her today.

"Well? Your answer Mogami-san?" He said impatiently, arms crossed over his chest.

"I've just been busy Tsuruga-san. I never meant to miss those calls, but I just couldn't get around to returning them. If it felt like I was avoiding you, then I sincerely apologize. This drama just takes a lot out of me." Kyoko attempted a nervous smile, while Kanae resisted the urge to face palm. _Really? 'I've been busy' is the best you could come up with? You dolt. If you're gonna make an excuse, don't make one that's so weak!_

Ren searched her face as she responded to him, looking for any signs of lying. Finding an odd sincerity in her face that he wasn't sure was related to the matter at hand, his gaze softened. He didn't want to force her answer him after all. If she wasn't telling him, there was a reason. He wouldn't betray her trust by bullying her into telling him. He sighed and ruffled her hair, smiling wryly.

"Well, it's obvious that something is bothering you, but until you come to me yourself, I'll wait. Just, just don't overdo it, okay?" He said as he walked away from her.

Kyoko nodded, staring at the ground, feeling utterly miserable as she heard his footsteps fade into the distance.

_I'm a terrible person. Tsuruga-san is the most kind, honest, and noble person I've met and here I am, betraying him in the worst way possible. Even worse, he doesn't even know. When he finds out about this – and no doubt he will – he'll disown me as his kouhai for sure! _Kyoko wailed inwardly. By this time, Kyoko was just a crying lump curled in the fetal position on the floor. Office workers nervously skirted around her body, with Kanae standing over her, exasperated.

"Oi." Kanae poked Kyoko with the toe of her left high heel. "Get up"

"Kyoko-chan?" Kanae turned and Kyoko looked up to see Yashiro dressed as Imai Kaien walking towards her.

"Ya-I mean Kaien-kun!" _Focus Kyoko! You've messed up enough! Don't ruin things for Yashiro-kun!_ She furtively glanced at Kanae to see if she noticed the slip up but the raven haired actress was absorbed in watching the man walking towards them.

"What are you doing on the floor Kyoko-chan? Here, let me help you up. We've a film shoot to get to, remember?"

"Ah! I almost forgot!" Kyoko cried, noticing the time on Kaien's wrist watch as he took a hold of her elbow and helped her to her feet. When they straightened, Kaien turned to see Kanae still standing there, scrutinizing him.

"Oh is this the Moko-san you were telling me about?" Kyoko flinched under the murderous glare that Kanae sent her. The girl had made it very clear that no one else was to know of the embarrassing nickname.

"Eh-he. Yes..."

"Delightful to meet you. If you would excuse us miss, we must get to a film shoot." Kanae inclined her head as permission for them to leave and watched them leave. She ran an anxious hand through her hair.

"Jeez. If Ren finds out about this, he's going to kill us all. Kyoko I sure hope you know what you're doing. Oh wait. What am I saying? This is Kyoko. She has no damn idea what she's doing. Idiot." Kanae walked towards the love me room, shaking her head.

… … …

"Are you alright Kyoko-chan? You don't seem well." Kaien helped Kyoko sit down in a chair in his dressing room.

"I just ran into Tsuruga-san." Kaien nodded, suddenly understanding her demeanour.

"Did you tell him? Was he upset?"

Kyoko looked at him, incredulous.

"Why on _earth_ would I tell him?! He was mad at me already for avoiding him! He was trying to make me tell him why at first then, it was almost like he just gave up. I feel like the worst person alive. He calls me his friend and here I am, betraying him in the worst way possible." She buried her face in her hands, distraught. Kaien shook his head and knelt in front of her, trying to pry her hands away from her face.

"Kyoko-chan. Kyoko-chan, look at me. This _isn't_ a betrayal. Okay? It isn't. He'll understand when you tell him. Trust me. He will. He's a good guy, like you said; he won't hold it against you. Trust yourself and trust him."

"But he was mad enough today!"

"That was because, to him, he was being ignored without due cause. When you explain it to him, he'll forgive you. I promise."

Kyoko sighed and nodded. The thought of telling Ren made her tremble, she wasn't sure if she was ready for this. She had only recently regained her senses. To declare them now would literally kill her. She wasn't ready. She just wasn't.

"Okay. If you say so. But when?" Kaien thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers. "I know! At Lory's Christmas party this Friday. Why not then. It gives you time to prepare." Kyoko relaxed. It was only Monday, she still had four days. She had time to plan. She could do this. Kaien now stood from his kneeling position and put his finger on his chin.

"Stressed huh?" Kyoko nodded, stilling thinking about how to tell Ren. "I know what will make you feel better. Kyoko-chan, you have tomorrow off right?" At her nod, he bent at the waist, holding her right hand in his.

"Then, Kyoko-chan, let me take you out tomorrow."

Kyoko's eyes widened in shock, staring at the grinning actor.

"What?"

… … …

"Ah. Ren, you're here. I'm sorry I'm late, after I left the shoot, I got tailed by paparazzi, and it took me forever to shake them off. I knew I shouldn't have left looking like that. I ended up having to change in an alley two blocks away from here." Yashiro stood panting at his office door, his desk occupied by a slightly startled Ren. He guessed his dishevelled appearance had surprised his charge. Ren shook his head.

"No it's fine. Rather than that, Yashiro, at the audition last time, the directors told us I had as good as gotten the part, right?" Yashiro looked at him quizzically.

"Yeah, why?" Ren slid the sheaf of papers he had been looking at in his direction. It was a contract with a note attached to the front.

_Mr. Yashiro Yukihito,_

_Though we had agreed last meeting that Tsuruga-san had achieved his goal in convincing us that he could play Nakatsu, the directors deliberated amongst ourselves again and have come to the conclusion that Tsuruga-san might be better suited for the role of Umeda Hokuto instead. If you would be accept, we would be most delighted to have Tsuruga-san with us. If you have any questions or inquiries, please do not hesitate to ask._

_Regards,_

_Director Akiyama_

Yashiro blinked at the paper and then looked back at Ren.

"What? What is this? What do you think about this?" Ren looked pensive, crossing his arms across his chest.

"To be honest, I think I should have listened to you about this. Perhaps going for such a purely comedic role right away is too much. Maybe I have to get the audiences and directors used to seeing me in less serious roles. Umeda seems like a good way to do it. He's supposed to be funny but without the exaggerated-ness of Nakatsu. This role seems like a good place to start. I think I'll do it. "

"Are you sure? Ren, Dr. Umeda –"

"Hang on, let me call the director and tell him that I'll do it."

"Wait Ren –" Yashiro fell silent as Ren _sshhed_ him. Before Yashiro could stop him, Ren had agreed to do the role and hung up the phone with Director Akiyama, looking satisfied. He sat back down and began to leaf through the scripts for the first four episodes of the drama.

Yashiro sighed and flopped on to a chair next to door inside his office. He massaged his temples with his fingers.

"Ren."

"Hm?"

"Have you read the character description for Umeda?"

"Briefly. School doctor, first to discover Ashiya and personal confidant to the protagonists."

"He's also gay."

"…"

"…"

"Gay?"

"As in loves men?"

"Oh."

"Mm."

"Gay?!" Ren cried, looking at Yashiro in shock and sifting through the scripts and sure enough, there were the scenes of him groping and flirting with his students and various other men. Including the protagonist's brother. Him he would have to kiss. The blood drained from his face. Yashiro used a rolled up script to smack Ren on the back of the head.

"_I'm_ your manager remember? It's _my_ job to accept, postpone or decline a job offer, remember? _This_," Yashiro gestured to the script, "is why _I_ handle the scripts and contracts. Honestly. This part of you hasn't changed at all." Yashiro shook his head as he remembered Ren's zealousness to accept job offers without thoroughly investigating them first when they had first started. He had gotten better, but when he got distracted he almost always did something like this. "Now what? Do you want me to call the director and tell them you're declining the offer instead?"

Ren groaned.

"No, I gave them my decision and my word. I can't back out now. I'm not so capable that I'm allowed to reject a script just because I don't understand or don't like it." Yashiro took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well. I guess you have a new job then. Hand me the schedule, I want to put the timings into your planner." He began writing down dates and times. "I wonder what Kyoko-chan would think of this role. I know half the female population is going to faint seeing you kiss another man."

Ren grimaced and thought of Kyoko and Yashiro together as he stared at his manager.

"Yashiro?"

"Hm." Yashiro didn't look up as he kept copying dates.

"About Kyoko…"

"What about her?"

Once again, as Ren stared at Yashiro, his courage deflated, afraid perhaps of the answer he might receive.

"Uh, how is she? How is the shooting going?"

"The drama? It's great! Kyoko is a brilliant actor and co-star. I finally understand how you feel Ren – ah." Yashiro interrupted himself to Ren's chagrin to the sound of his cell phone going off. Yashiro answered it after slipping on his trademark gloves.

_How I feel?_

"Hang on Ren. Hello? Oh Shachou. Yes. I'm in my office with Ren." He looked at his wristwatch. "What, now? Ren has an interview in an hour…Well alright if you say so. See you." Yashiro snapped his phone shut and got up resignedly.

"I have to go see the president for a second. I should be back in about 20-30 minutes. Work hard." He waved slightly as he left. When he was out of earshot, Ren leaned back and let out an explosive growl that travelled past his closed office door, scaring an office intern in the hallway.

_Coward,_ his mind whispered to him.

… … …

Kanae settled down in her room after she finished her basic household chores. She had reinforced her lock with an un-pickable lock. There was no way she wanted a repeat of last time. All her siblings and nieces and nephews had made themselves in her room, totally trashing the place.

It was 8PM and it was time for the new episode of _To Fall from Above_. She would never tell Kyoko, but she had become hooked to the drama after only two episodes. It was now a ritual for her. She would grab her low-fat, non- buttered popcorn, turn off the lights in her room and lose herself in the fictional characters of Yuiko and Tetsuya. Kanae found the appropriate channel and got ready as the intro credits began to roll.

_**{To Fall from Above: Episode 3}**_

_**[Yuiko Voiceover]:**__** "We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves." - François de la Rochefoucauld**_

"_Nakamura-san, would you mind letting me go?" Just like that, the spell that had held the two of them was gone. As if it had never existed. But it had. And that much was obvious by the redness of the woman's ears. It was clear that Yuiko was not accustomed to this kind of bodily contact. The observation made him want to see how much he could make her squirm, see if he could break the mask of indifference and professionalism that cloaked her._

"_What if I don't want to?" He tugged her so she was flush against him and his hand encircled her tiny waist completely._

"_Nakamura-san let me go. Or I'll be forced to use…uh...force." Tetsuya restrained himself from laughing. She was becoming flustered already. This was fun._

"_Or what?" He purred in her ear as he rested his chin on her shoulder and blew lightly, brushing his lips slightly on her neck. Yuiko shrieked in shock and shoved him away from her, stumbling backwards and tripping on the hem of her dress, falling unbecomingly on her rear before Tetsuya could catch her, though he did try. Yuiko's hair had now become dishevelled and framed her beautifully blushing face as she put a hand on her neck. Tetsuya was honestly surprised at the intensity of her reaction. Clearly she was much more inexperienced than he'd thought. He'd at least had women. She seemed to be quite pure in this sense. Tetsuya laughed and shook his head, he bent at the waist, one hand on his knee, the other held out to her._

"_Here, give me your hand, I'll help you up." She looked from him to his hand, hesitant, and amended his statement. "I won't do anything. Promise." He re-extended his hand and slowly she put her hand in his, yelping as he yanked her up, her body colliding with his._

"_There. See? I told you I wouldn't do anything...it's…fine…" Tetsuya trailed off as he took in her expression, looking up at him, one of her hands in his, the other on his chest. Wide eyed, and blushing beautifully, the look on her face was captivating and enchanting. He couldn't look away, just as she couldn't either. Suddenly, Yuiko seemed to realize her position and sprung back, away from him, on hand holding her dress, the other in her hair. _

"_Uhm...uh. I've, I've got to go." She backed away from him like she was afraid that if she turned her back, he would pounce on her. When she was safely near the balcony door, she turned and fled towards the ladies room, both hands clutching her dress so that it was easier to run. Tetsuya stared after her, shocked for a moment and then collapsed lightly against the balcony railing, one hand on the railing, the other hand over his mouth, a fiery blush across his own face._

_**What was that? What the hell is this?**_

…_. … …_

_Yuiko stood at the bathroom counter, primly rearranging her hair into her previous bun. She tried not to think about what had just happened. It was a fluke. Just because her heart had gone insane for a minute, she had panicked. __**It's nothing**__. __**Just a basic physiological reaction to a stimulus that anyone would react to.**__**It's nothing special.**__ She tried to convince herself. However, try as she might she could not forget the feel of her body against his and the warmth she felt from it. She had never felt it from anyone else. Kouno had her close to him before to simulate the appearance of a couple deeply in love, but she had never felt anything like this. She closed her eyes and remembered his face, so close to hers, so open. _

_Then she shook her head. __**No, he's a Nakamura. Don't even go there Yuiko. He's an enemy. He has a fiancée and this cannot happen. It just can't. Never.**_

_Taking a deep breath, Yuiko willed the feelings away and smiled in the mirror, a soft but professional smile. The mask that was Kanzawa Yuiko was back. She picked up her clutch and walked out of the ladies room and went to find her fiancé._

_She retook her own position beside Kouno and resumed her interactions with the other guests, Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Tetsuya re-enter the room, joining Asuka, looking in her direction. As the dance segment of the evening began and she and Kouno took to the dance floor, she became aware of Tetsuya dancing only a few feet away with Asuka. Yuiko pressed herself closer to Kouno, closer than she'd ever gone before and refused to look in Tetsuya's direction. Her stomach roiled at the strange feelings that his gaze awoke in her. Kouno looked at her, surprised at her behaviour but returned the gesture, pressing himself to her. Nevertheless, he responded to her and tugged her hands so that they rested on his chest and his hands now locked near her tailbone._

_The night ended with embraces as she was forced to kiss Kouno to further their façade of romance and was sure she had seen Tetsuya's expression change into one of surprise and then meld into a stony mask, much like the one she wore. She closed her eyes as Kouno pressed an equally chaste yet passionate kiss on her lips as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Yuiko noted that her earlier observation had been correct. She felt nothing from Kouno's touch and could still feel the burning of her skin where Tetsuya's hands had touched her._

_Yuiko saw with a strange satisfaction that Tetsuya did not kiss his fiancée, choosing to hug her lightly and help her into her car. Kouno helped her into her own car and she unwillingly had her last glimpse of Tetsuya, staring at her as Kouno arranged her dress into the car. The car door shut, and with the window down, she looked at Tetsuya, an unreadable expression on her face that he mirrored. She broke the gaze and faced forward, mask still in place, his face haunting her memories. _

_As they drove away, Yuiko realized that in that moment, something had passed between them and Yuiko was sure nothing would ever be the same again. _

… … …

_Tetsuya couldn't concentrate. Crumpled paper littered his office, half smoked cigarette's lay in the ash tray and he himself paced his office, muttering to himself about stupid fiscal reports and incompetent subordinates._

_He hadn't been the same since last night. He hadn't slept well, her face haunted his mind and he didn't even know why. All night, the feel of her against him had plagued his thoughts and chased him in his dreams, as had the image of her kissing that man as she left the party. He buried his face in his hands and sat back in his chair. This was nothing, he decided, he would avoid her as much as he could, he could get over whatever he was feeling. It was more likely he found her attractive, which wasn't so far-fetched. After all, it wasn't as if she wasn't decently attractive. It was a normal male reaction to a pretty woman._

"_Sir?" Koji poked his head into his boss's office._

"_What?" Tetsuya said irritably. He was not in the mood to deal with this fool._

"_Kanzawa Yuiko-sama is here. She wishes to speak with you. Privately."_

_Tetsuya turned his chair so that it faced away from Koji and smirk on his face._

"_Is that so? Well we can't keep the lovely lady waiting. Send her in and bring in two cups of tea."_

"_Yes sir."_

_Two minutes later, Tetsuya heard the familiar sounds of heels on the marble floors of his office. He turned around to greet his guest._

"_Welcome Kanzawa-san. Please, have a seat."_

_[Tetsuya Voiceover]:__"The minute people fall in love, they become liars." – Harlan Ellison_

_**{End of To Fall From Above: Episode 3}**_

Kanae clutched her pillow as the credits played across the screen. _Whoever wrote the script was a genius._ She thought. She could see quite clearly that both Kyoko and Kaien were at their best. They _were_Tetsuya and Yuiko. They were truly falling in love with each other's character. You could feel it. The passion, the intensity. It was all there, and it made Kanae antsy for the characters. She was anxious for them.

As she prepared herself for bed, she wondered whether Japan's sexiest man had extracted enough time to watch the drama. As she snuggled into bed, Kanae thought to herself, love was truly a battle of unmasking liars_. _The question was, who was lying, and who wasn't?

**End Chapter 8**

**A/N:** I just want to make it clear that Ren's reaction to playing Umeda in no way reflects my opinions on the topic. It is just shock for comedic purposes and is not meant to be offensive in any way. Thank you for understanding.

That said, **PLEASE REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: right, so before I say anything. Chapter 195. Like OMG. What the-? Is this REALLY happening right now? 10 bucks says someone will interrupt them and Kyoko will just about die from embarrassment haha. But you know what, I REALLY hope that the pay off of when they actually get together is good because the way she's building up to it, it better be something jaw droppingly good. If anyone has read Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume, you'll know what I mean. Like, in that manga, the pay off to Shindou and Uru's romance was hugely disappointing, a kiss on the FOREHEAD. I mean WHAT?! THAT WAS IT?! (I still love the manga with all my heart though) :) **

**Any who. With my fangirling now out of the way, ONWARDS!**

**Chapter 9: What to Do**

The Okami-san watched from the doorway amused as her young tenant scrambled around her room in a panic.

"Hat, hat. Where is the hat? I could swear I saw the hat yesterday." Kyoko muttered to herself, crawling on her hands and knees, searching under the bed. The whole room looked like it had been turned upside down, a testament to the state of mind of the normally prim, proper and pristine girl that inhabited the space.

"Are you looking for this?" Kyoko looked up to seethe Okami-san had lifted a white, knit wool hat from a pile of clothes near the door.

"Okami-saaaaan!" The woman jumped, startled as Kyoko seemed to arrive in front of her in supernatural time, crying comical tears of relief.

"You're a life saver!"

The Okami-san fit the hat snugly over Kyoko's raven haired head, and smiled.

"Think nothing of it. You seem awfully nervous dear, is something wrong?"

At these words, a light blush stained Kyoko's cheeks, much to the woman's surprise.

"_Ihaveadatetoday_." The words came out in a jumbled mess that just flew over the Okami's head.

"You what?"

"Ahem. I, uh, I have a date today."

The Okami refrained from giggling girlishly as she heard the sudden, particularly vicious sounds of someone throwing out the trash under Kyoko's window.

"Oh, a _date_. So the actor gentleman finally decided to take you out?"

Kyoko looked at her landlord quizzically. She hadn't told them about Yashiro being an actor so who was she -?

"Tsuruga-san?!" Her face going red at the thought and she frantically shook her head. "Why would he take me out?! No, no. I'm going out with Yashiro –san."

"Yashiro-san? Yashi – the manager?" Kyoko was surprised at the stunned look on the Okami's face.

"Yes."

"The –the manager. W-well is that so? I hope you enjoy yourself dear. Be careful, alright? I have to go down stairs and help prepare for the lunch time rush." Kyoko bowed to hear as she left the room and watched, perplexed as the woman walked away, muttering to herself.

"The manager? The manager. The manager? Was I mistaken?"

Kyoko shrugged and stood in front of her floor length mirror, taking one last look at herself to make sure she was presentable. She'd searched dozens of fashion blogs the night before , studying what kind of attire was appropriate for a winter and had settled on the look she wore now, having gone out early to shop for certain pieces she didn't own.

Her hair, black as night for her role was shiny and sleek, framing her pale face, livened by the soft patches of pink on her cheeks. She'd managed to learn how to do a clean winter make up look that wasn't over the top but was definitely date-worthy, finishing off with deep, rich lipstick in a shade of pomegranate. After much researching on the clothing, Kyoko had settled for a ¾ sleeved red sweater dress that came to just above the knee, cinched in at the waist by a thin leather belt. She coupled the dress with thick black stockings and lace up leather wedge heeled boots that came to her knees.

As she adjusted the hat over her head, she heard a car honk outside and peeked out to see Yashiro's black Audi, as described, out front. Kyoko grabbed her white knee length wool blend coat, and white leather handbag, descending the stairs at a rapid speed, calling out her goodbyes to her landlords as she went.

As the door shut behind their admittedly easily excited boarder, the Okami sighed, stopping her stirring of the stew pot next to her husband.

"Dear, is it possible that I might have been wrong? I mean, her date is with...the manager?" The Taisho grunted non-committally. Lopping the head off a salmon with more ferocity than necessary.

"Dunno. He better not get any ideas though." The next item to go flying was the fish's tail.

... ... ...

"Um, Yashiro-san?" Kyoko fiddled with her bag in her lap, glancing every now and then at Yashiro's face. He wore a casual dress shirt and black dress pants as far as she could tell, coupled with a black double breasted coat and Kyoko found herself thinking that he looked pretty good.

"Yes, Kyoko-chan? And may I say, you look _stunning _today."

Kyoko blushed fiercely, and stuttering protests.

"I-I am not-"

"Ah-ah." Yashiro interrupted, shaking his head at her disapprovingly. "We've discussed. When someone compliments you, what do you say?" Yashiro said teasingly, as if talking to a child just learning social etiquette. Kyoko took a steady breath and replied evenly.

"T-thank you."

Yashiro smiled, and her bare hand with his gloved one.

"Good girl. Now what were you going to say?"

"Oh, yes! Where are we going?"

"Ah, that. There's a great Winter Carnival down at the pier and I thought it would be find it check it out."

The sheer thought of the carnival sent Kyoko flying into La La Land as she imagined everything she knew about Carnivals. Yashiro could only smile amused at the sight and continue driving.

... ... ...

Ren stumbled out his bed, not quite fully awake. It was his off day, and from what he could tell it was only about noon. He padded quietly into the kitchen and stood in front of the refrigerator, half dreading opening it for fear of what he might – or might not – find there. To his relief, he found a solitary loaf of bread, sitting next a carton orange juice, still remaining from Kyoko's last foray into his home. Ren poured himself a glass of as he sat at his kitchen table. He surveyed his apartment as he began to drink the beverage. It was empty. There was furniture and other admittedly luxurious amenities in his apartment, but it still felt..._empty._ Hollow. Incomplete. It felt as if everything he possessed was a prop, a facade to project the image of satisfaction. What was the saying again? Oh right.

_Money doesn't buy you happiness._

He sighed and set the empty glass on the counter and put a few slices of bread into the toaster. It was odd, the only thing that he wanted was something money could never achieve for him, someone not easily captured. Even more so, lately he'd felt un-easier than normal about his quest to win the fair lady's heart. He felt like he was losing her.

But to who?

Yashiro? That wasn't possible. As the first person to open Ren's eyes to his feelings for the Love Me founder, it was simply _unthinkable_, and yet, what other explanation was there? All evidence pointed to him regardless of what Ren wanted – or didn't want to – believe.

He picked up the Hana Kimi script from the counter that he'd discarded last night in his misery and flipped through it, looking at his highlighted lines. He had quite a few of them, even a supporting character. He had to admit; even to himself, that a supporting role was something he hadn't done since he had entered the so-called big leagues. The directors simply _could not_ see him supporting another actor. He was more likely to over shadow them they had conjectured and thus he always did the title roles instead. This time he was determined to show that he could make an impact and still not overpower the lead actor. Control was a valuable skill in the acting world as well as far he was concerned.

He grabbed his toasted bread and sat in the living room, perusing his lines and decided start practicing some of his lines to get a hold on the character.

"'Shall I ...'" He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, one hand in his hair, the other holding the script. "...'comfort you with my body? He says while slipping his jacket off.'" Ren stared at the line for a moment and shook his head. _What did that mean? What kind of intonation am I supposed to use, and what am I supposed to be doing?_ Ren got up and extracted a white suit coat from his coat closet to use as a prop for the scene he was practising. He stood in his living room and attempted the line.

"Shall _I _comfort you with my body?" Ren pasted on a seductive look and slowly slid the jacket of his shoulders, on hand splayed on his chest, sensually suggesting himself to comfort his imaginary victim. He held the pose for a moment and then dropped the pose. "No. I am not actually _trying_ to seduce her. Gay. Gay. I'm supposed to be gay. How would a gay guy say this." He deadpanned, appalled at the second rate acting he was producing. He readied himself again, and tried once more.

"Shall I comfort you with _my_ body?" Ren looked up from under his eyelashes at the imaginary co-actor pretended to lean over the couch over his appropriately horrified student, and started sliding the jacket off from one shoulder this time. Once more he froze and stopped the act. He fixed the jacket again.

"No, that won't work either. One more time." He closed his eyes and willed himself to concentrate. "Shall I _comfort_ you with my body?" Ren all but threw his jacket off, his arm following the moment and then letting himself freeze in action as he contemplated what he'd just done. He slumped to the floor, a black cloud of despair over him.

"How am I supposed to know what a gay guy would do?! Would he mock the words? Is he serious? Is he just messing with her? It's no use. No matter what I do, I still feel like a creep saying that to a teenage girl." Ren groaned and got up again, retrieving the discarded jacket, finding his center once more.

"Let's try this one more time."

... ... ...

Shoko breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the door to the high maintenance room mate that was Fuwa Sho. He was by far more trouble than he was worth sometimes. She thought of their schedule the next day and groaned inwardly, hand on her forehead. It was a full battle to wake the boy up in the morning. She had to protect her chastity _and_ wake him up without hurting him.

A tough task indeed.

She didn't know how Kyoko had done it. All she knew was that when Sho lived with her, the boy was _always_ ready for her when she arrived, though the young girl was always gone, on her way to whatever partime job she'd managed to land that month. Judging by the size and quality of the apartment, Kyoko must have had to work multiple jobs just be able to make rent by the end of the month. Shoko knew for a fact that Sho spent whatever he earned on himself to help create the outrageous looks he wore, which meant that Kyoko was the primary breadwinner for them. Her salary would have barely left her any room to buy herself some decent clothes, or barely even make enough to buy them food. Tough the food she almost always ended up eating by herself, since Sho spent the majority of his time living with other women.

Shoko remembered the day Kyoko had left him vividly. The star had been unconcerned about the confrontation and assured Shoko that she would calm down and go back to worshipping him again within the hour. She'd never been mad at him before and he doubted she could stay that way for long, he _was_ her precious _Sho-chan_ after all. She was a meek little thing and she nowhere to go, and no one to go to. Besides, there was no way that wuss had the guts to _actually_ come through on her threat, Sho had confidently said.

When they'd arrived at the apartment later that evening, the warm and apologetic welcome that Sho had been expecting was most definitely not there. The apartment had been wiped clean of any trace of Kyoko's presence. Her clothes, her picture frames, her little trinkets and other things were gone.

The most astonishing part of it was that every item of Fuwa Sho memorabilia that Kyoko had possessed now lay torn, or shredded or stabbed in a pile in the center of the living room. Every poster, CD, DVD, jewellery, t-shirt, bag, hat, bobble head, and stationary item with the image, name or slightest _mention_ of the artist had been destroyed. She'd even defaced the gigantic poster of Sho on the wall with what looked like sharpies, covered in phrases like:

_Die! Baka Shoutaro! Idiot! You will pay! Suffer! I will defeat you! _And most importantly, _I'LL __**KILL**__ YOU, YOU BASTARD!_ The word _kill_ had been circled and underlined fiercely. There was no chance of missing it.

The shock on his face was only solidified as the landlord suddenly appeared and informed them that rental agreement had been nullified, (Sho had needed no prior informing since his name hadn't been on the payment agreement) and that he had two weeks to move out. This ultimately lead to show now inhabiting what had used to be her guest bedroom. She sighed again. This past year had been a roller coaster ride for sure.

Shoko dimmed the lights as she entered her room and sat down on her bed, idly turning the TV on and flipping through the channels. Suddenly, Kyoko's flashed across the screen, along with Imai Kaien's. She paused her channel surfing and turned the volume up, it seemed she had caught the show that she hadn't had a chance to watch yet. It might be a little confusing because she hadn't seen the first two, but what the heck, why not watch it? She turned the lights out completely and focused on the screen, watching with an eye long trained to see talent in people.

**{To Fall From Above}**

_**[Yuiko Voiceover]: "...whenever you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."- Sherlock Holmes. **_

_Yuiko walked into Tetsuya's office fuming. Who does this guy think he is? I'm __**not**__ going to let him make a fool of me! As his assistant opened the door for her, she walked in, seeing the state of disarray the office was in. His back was to her, though she could make out a transparent image of him in the glass. _

"_Nakamura-san." She said curtly, announcing her arrival though she was sure he knew she was there and this was most likely some plot to intimidate her. He turned around at her words, smiling in that confident way that she hated. He'd been smiling that smile in her dreams all night and at the moment she just wanted to duct tape his mouth shut._

"_Yuiko-san. What a surprise, what can I do for you?" He said, leaning forward on his desk, all smiles._

"_I don't recall giving you permission to use my first name Nakamura-san." Yuiko replied, not falling for his tried and true method of ensnaring women with his 'charm'. He feigned a look of hurt._

"_And I here I thought we'd made some real progress as intimate friends last night." Yuiko's temper flared as did her blush. She hadn't thought he would be so guileless as to mention something so vulgar. She took a deep breath, forcing herself not to get angry. She must remain professional at all costs and spoke again, ignoring his baiting._

"_I want to know what you think you're doing."_

"_Sorry?"_

"_One of your reps came to my office this morning, and offered to let me buy your stocks in the Matsukawa printing corporation. Just what do you think you're doing? Do you think by offering me such a deal?" She crossed her arms as the man just looked at her, expression unreadable._

"_There was nothing behind it in particular, per se. I just thought now would be a good time to cut my losses. After all, a second rate company like that is bound to sink eventually. " He drawled, tapping his finger on the net income break down report on his desk and then getting up to stand in front of her, half leaning on the desk behind him. Yuiko let out a frustrated breath, and shook her head._

"_Never mind." She ran her hand over her face. "I forgot I was dealing with an amateur." She smirked inwardly at the indignation at the man's face. I don't care what happened last night, but messing with him is entertaining. With that she turned to leave, and as she did, her heel wobbled, causing her to stumble, she closed her eyes, arms flailing to save herself from the impact until she became aware of an arm around her waist. She peeked her eyes open and found herself looking at the much too close face of Nakamura Tetsuya._

"_Careful." He said, steadying her, one hand on arm the other snaked around her hips. "Wouldn't want to fall, would we?"_

"_Gya!" She leapt away from him, shocked, and then gasped, covering her mouth, embarrassed at the undignified shriek that had escaped her. Tetsuya looked at her in surprise and then slapped his hands over his mouth. He started to shake and soon burst out laughing, hands clutching his stomach._

"_hahaha! What was that? What a weird sound!" he laughed looking at her expression, using one hand on the desk to support him._

"_You saved me from falling," She began somewhat haughtily, the embarrassed blush still on her cheeks, undermining her seemingly unimpressed tone. "For that, I thank you." The blush intensified as she saw that he was studying her with a look she wasn't used to. "Ah, I've wasted too much time. I must be going. " He narrowed his eyes as she collected the things she'd dropped during her almost-fall. _

"_Your engagement to Syaki Kouno is officially being celebrated tonight, is it not?"_

_Yuiko froze at the door. She had been avoiding thinking about it all day. Though the engagement was something everyone knew to be an eventuality, it had never been publicly stated in public. Today, she was being promised to her cousin. It wasn't that she didn't like him, but she didn't love him. And she knew that it didn't matter whether she did or not. Her mother had not married for love, and neither had her aunts. It was only part of her reality that she would follow the same path they did. If you thought about it, she was lucky. The man she was promised to cared about her at the very least. He may not love her in a romantic sense, but she knew he would always be by her side and he would never leave her when she needed him. So really, she should be looking forward to it._

_Right?_

"_Yes, that is true." She turned and smiled putting up her business facade. "I'm only sorry that your family is far too busy to attend." Tetsuya stiffened, he understood and had known before she mentioned it, but they had purposely not been invited. It was a snub on their part. They were being told that they were not significant enough to be considered for such an event. She left without another word, giving him another look, her guard momentarily down as she gazed at him with something that Tetsuya could only think was some kind of longing._

_Tetsuya watched her retreating back and sat down, laughing morbidly at himself at being caught off guard for the second time. I've been beaten. Again, he thought. He thought about her, her smile, her scent, those large eyes and that beautiful mind of hers. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Tetsuya realized suddenly that for as long he lived, he would never forget her, she was unique and she did something to his heart that had never happened before. He leaned back in his chair and opened his laptop, a concentrated look settling on to his features. He snapped his fingers and Koji popped in, receiving a series of orders that left him speechless._

_... ... ..._

"_Dear guests, let us introduce to you, the celebrated couple of tonight's event! Syaki Kouno and Kanzawa Yuiko!" _

_Yuiko smiled gently as the doors opened and she walked into the hall on Kouno's arm, dressed in an angelic white gown, with full sleeves, a large scoop neck high lighting the whiteness of skin. The dress fell to her knees and even had a small scale train behind her. Everything about her clothes suggested the purity of its wearer and her un-taintedness. Her mother had spent hours with stylist, styling her hair into the perfect style. In the end, her hair had been left open, and pinned it behind her ear on one ear, exposing her neck. Everywhere she looked, all she could see was a sea of black and satin. Everyone was dressed in their finest, attending the party that was in their honour. Yuiko tried to be happy, she should have been. The man she was being engaged to was smart, handsome, clever, and thoughtful. He was every woman's dream. Yuiko only wondered why she had not shared that dream. No matter how much she tried, she could not see him as anything more than her most precious of friends. She sighed internally, she guessed that it was better to spend the rest of your life with your best friend than a complete stranger as her mother had. _

_Suddenly, as Yuiko ascended the steps to the stage where their seats had been arranged, Yuiko saw a blur run by the window to her right out of the corner of her eye. She turned and studied it at length. When nothing moved, she turned and allowed herself to be guided into the seat by Kouno, deep in thought._

_I could've sworn...That can't be right. That's impossible._

_Then, a woman dressed in the standard white of the household help appeared, carrying two jewellery boxes, containing one ring each. And then, before Yuiko could even blink, the ceremony was done. The exchange of rings was done, and she was officially Kouno's bride-to-be. There was no backing out, no escaping; there was no further retreat from her duty now._

_And there never would be. _

_Never again._

_She was trapped with nowhere to run. She resisted the urge to cry and smiled as people approached the newly engaged couple to congratulate them and stick some networking in edgewise._

_Yuiko was quite familiar to the next stage of tonight's proceedings. She had been well educated by her father and mother in her actions for tonight and if Kouno's actions were anything to go by, he'd received the same instructions. Under the watchful eye of her father's right hand man, she and Kouno, at the end o f the night's festivities, were escorted to a room on the second floor, a guest room. It was clear they were meant to consummate their relationship tonight. Once inside, Kouno stripped his suit jacket off, slinging it over the back of an ornate chair placed by the ornate glass door to the balcony, and loosened his shirt collar buttons and tie, not bothering with the lights, preferring the moonlight streaming in through the curtained doors of the balcony. He sat at the foot of the bed, sighing, both arms perched on his thighs._

"_We don't have a choice do we?" He asked her dryly, as she stood with her back to the door, tucking her hair behind her ear, looking at the floor. She supposed she was grateful, with Kouno she could be the young inexperienced girl she was. Yuiko shook her head, knowing that her parents, and his, had their methods to find out whether their instructions had been carried out. There would be dire consequences if they weren't followed._

"_Mou. I feel like we're doing everything totally out of order. Isn't this normally supposed to happen after the wedding?" He ran a hand through his hair, freeing it from it perfectly set style._

"_It's so that neither of us can attempt to abandon the other. The fact that this takes place will make it impossible for anything to get in the way of the wedding." She said, still not meeting his eyes. She was suddenly overcome with nervousness and anxiety. She had no idea what to do from here on out. She wasn't allowed to seek counsel on the matter either. According to her mother, it was so that she wasn't accused of having prior experience. She was left to her own devices here, and though she trusted Kouno to treat her gently, she still hesitated. Though now, there was no reason to be, she supposed. She had to do it and do it she would. She would do her duty to her family._

_She clenched her fists, steeling her resolve and strode towards him, standing in front of the slightly surprised man, a determined look in her eye. Yuiko gathered her hair and pushed it the front over her left shoulder and turned her back to him, so that he could see the lacing on the back of the gown, over her bare skin._

"_I need help opening it." She said softly, glancing over her shoulder, seeing his gaze go from surprised to resign and then turn warm in response to her efforts. He knew how hard this was for her, and though he wanted to spare her from it, he knew there was no getting around it. Better him than someone she barely knew he supposed. He reached up and ran a hand down the exposed skin over the cords holding the dress together, causing her to shiver slightly and arch her back involuntarily. _

_Slowly, he unlaced the dress._

_... ... ..._

_Yuiko opened her eyes to the sound of something like a pebble hitting something. She sat up slowly in bed, looking around for the source of the noise in the dark. Looking at a clock on her night stand, she saw it was only 3 o' clock. She had only been asleep for 30 minutes since...well. she had only been only asleep 30 minutes. Who had known that Kouno would be such a beast in these things she thought. Her mind was finally cleared from the haze that the session had brought upon her. She had almost passed out twice. She looked over at her fiancé's sleeping figure next to her, bare, but covered by the same blanket she was in. She slipped on her night gown, a slip made of thin pure white chiffon, falling in sheer pleats to her mid thighs as she got out of bed. As she looked around, she saw a shadow against the balcony door. She slowly crept up to the door, preparing to strike. She had been taught martial arts for situations specifically like this._

_She opened the drapes suddenly and found herself face to face with Nakamura Tetsuya. Her surprise was so great at the sight that she stumbled back a couple steps, astounded with this turn of events. She saw him motioning her to open the door._

_Hesitantly, Yuiko opened it, glancing at Kouno in the bed, and stepped out into the cool night air, slowly closing the door leaving it only slightly ajar. Then she turned and glared at the man in front of her._

"_You! What the hell do you think you're doing?! Why are you even here?" She whisper yelled at him, not even understanding the situation._

"_shh! Not so loud! I came to see you." Yuiko blinked and then let out a sligh, slumping._

"_You – Couldn't it wait until tomorrow? Did you have to see me at 3:00 o clock in the morning? Wait – how did you even get up here?!" She ran to the balcony fence, looking down, it was a sheer drop to the ground below. Tetsuya laughed and ran a hand through his hair._

"_This isn't funny you buffoon!" She hit him with a balled up fist._

"_It wasn't that hard. If you've grown up learning to avoid being detected by security system, this kinda of thing becomes easy –" Tetsuya suddenly caught sight of the bed in the room through the glass door and saw the sleeping figure of Kouno. His eyes narrowed._

"_What is he doing in your room?" He looked down at her and for the first time saw the light hickeys peppered all over her body descending from her neck all the way down to her thighs, eyes widening._

"_Did you -?" Yuiko blushed angrily, covering her chest with her hand._

"_I-It doesn't matter, this doesn't concern you. Look, you need to leave, if someone sees you it'll be a disaster." Yuiko said, pushing him away from her, hands on his chest._

"_Did you sleep with him?" He asked her bluntly, grabbing her hands on his chest, his eyes bearing an intensity she had never seen before. They smouldered through her and sent every sense in her body into a frenzy. She looked away from him, finally freeing one hand and pulling on the other, going as far away as the distance between them would allow._

"_I-I told you," She said a little more forcefully, "it's none of your concern who I sleep with or who's in my bed. Now le-" she never finished her sentence as Tetsuya yanked her arm, pulling her closer to him, putting the other on her waist and kissing her completely and soundly on the mouth._

_**[Tetsuya Voice Over}: Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty – Stephen King**_

**{To Fall From Above}**

"Shoko, I can't sleep, could you turn...down...the...tv?"

"Kyaa!"

Shoko shrieked as Sho walked blearily into her room clad only in his boxers, and scrambled madly for the remote, fumbling it in her haste.

"Is that...Kyoko?" Sho said, surprised at seeing Kyoko in long black hair again. Then he saw the credits, listing it as a romance drama before Shoko managed to properly get a hold of the controller and shut the TV off. But by then it was too late, the damage had been done. Sho's face turned a scary shade of purple and he stalked out of Shoko's room, slamming the door with considerable force behind him. Shoko groaned and fell backwards on to her bed.

_Great. It's already hard enough to cart him around in the morning, now I'm going to have to deal with his little mood swings all day. Good grief _

... ... ...

"Good, good." The president said, watching the credits scroll. "You've matured beautifully Kyoko-chan. But how will this affect those around you?" He opened his phone and looked at a photo of the woman in question, smiling as she held a snow globe in both hands up to her cheeks, her cheeks an adorable pink from the winter air.

"What will you do now... Ren?"

**Chapter 9 END**

**A/N: WHAT DID YOU THINKKKKK? This is the longest chapter so far I think. It's plotwise mostly a filler I suppose, the actual meat of it is the drama. I've been thinking of putting To Fall From Above on Fiction press and fleshing the story out properly. I'm sorry this came out so late; I had some issues with writers block. It's gone now though!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	10. Notice

Hi Guys,

I'm just posting to let you guys know that I've been reading all the requests to update quickly and I'm very sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I just want you to know that I'm trying but ive hit some kind of wall. My thoughts just wont present themselves on paper the way I want them too. I've wrote the chapter literally 12 different ways but none sound right. I'm trying though. I will get something up soon! I promise. This was just to let you know I haven't given up on it :) Please wait for me !

Mariya567


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